On This Day in 1975: Sunil Gavaskar’s 36 off 174 Balls vs England Creates Slowest ODI Innings Record

If there is one Indian batsman from the past who has revolutionized the landscape of Indian cricket, it is without a shadow of a doubt the famous Sunil Gavaskar. Sunil Gavaskar’s great cricketing lineage played a significant role in bringing India’s map into the world of cricket, from scoring more than 700 runs in his first series to becoming the first batter to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

These cricketing records do not only highlight his effect, but also his boldness and daring in facing the fearsome seamers without a helmet. However, an infamous knock occurred on this day in 1975, and the spirits of that long and continuous knock have yet to leave Gavaskar. His 174-ball 36* was heavily criticized, and Indian fans were outraged with his lethargic performance.

The renowned India opener was jeered throughout his innings by confused Indian fans in the stadium. As the innings came to a close, a few Indian fans went onto the field to confront Gavaskar.

Cricket had achieved its pinnacle of success. The World Cup had finally arrived, and nations will compete for an elusive trophy, with the opening game taking place between hosts England and India. England put on a massive 334 runs after the first innings, and the odds were stacked in their favor. Back then, limited-overs cricket was played over 60 overs. The lack of playing One-Day cricket was the issue for India, not the run rate.

India’s slow-paced innings never really got going, and many cricket experts and analysts thought Gavaskar and co. were playing for their own average. Cricket does not tolerate mediocrity, and the English bowlers comprehensively outplayed the Indian batters.

Gundappa Vishwanath led the scoring with 37 runs off 59 balls. The Indians managed only 132 runs for the loss of three wickets after 60 overs, but it was Gavaskar’s knock that drew the most criticism. He only hit one boundary in his inning and never showed any positive purpose.

England’s 202-run victory was the largest ever scored by a team at the time. The record held for ten years before being broken by the Australian cricket team in 1985, with a ruthless victory of 232 runs over Sri Lanka.

1st Innings scorecard

Batting Scorecard

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
John Jameson	c Venkataraghavan b Amarnath	21	42	2	0	50
Dennis Amiss	b Madan Lal	137	147	18	0	93.19
Keith Fletcher	b Abid Ali	68	107	4	1	63.55
Tony Greig	lbw b Abid Ali	4	8	0	0	50
Mike Denness (C)	Not Out	37	31	2	1	119.35
Chris Old	Not Out	51	30	4	2	170

Extras: 16

Bowling Scorecard

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Maidens	Economy
Madan Lal	12	64	1	1	5.33
Mohinder Amarnath	12	60	1	2	5
Syed Abid Ali	12	58	2	0	4.83
Karsan Ghavri	11	83	0	1	7.54
Srinivas Venkataraghavan	12	41	0	0	3.41
Eknath Solkar	1	12	0	0	12

 

2nd Innings

Batting scorecard

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Sunil Gavaskar	Not Out	36	174	1	0	20.68
Eknath Solkar	c Lever b Arnold	8	34	0	0	23.52
Anshuman Gaekwad	c Knott b lever	22	46	2	0	47.82
Gundappa Vishwanath	c Fletcher b Old	37	59	5	0	62.71
Brijesth Patel	Not Out	16	57	0	0	28.07

Extras: 13

Bowling scorecard

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Maidens	Economy
John Snow	12	24	0	2	2
Geoff Arnold	10	20	1	2	2
Chris Old	12	26	1	4	2.16
Tony Greig	9	26	0	1	2.88
Barry Wood	5	4	0	2	0.80
Peter Lever	10	16	1	0	1.60
John Jameson	2	3	0	1	1.50

 

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