Cricket World Cup History: Madan Lal, the indelible part of India's magic moment

Madan Lal
Madan Lal

Someone who has followed the event from its inception in 1975 would not be surprised to find Madan Lal’s name among some of the outstanding performers of the World Cup. Few can deny that Lal was a great trier who always endeavoured to extract the maximum from the limited resources at his command.

Others may argue that he was the ideal one-day player - extremely fit, a tremendous fielder, one of the safest catchers in the game, diligent medium-pacer and handy batsman down the order. What is undeniable is that players like him and Roger Binny were overshadowed by the towering personality of Kapil Dev.

Certainly in first-class cricket, Lal was an outstanding player. In his 106 Ranji Trophy matches, Lal scored 5270 runs at an average of 51.66 with 16 centuries and a highest score of 223 not out, and took 351 wickets at 18.78 apiece with a best of 9 for 31 in an innings - not long ago the only pacer among the top 13 wicket-takers. This is a fabulous record.

There can be no denying that in Indian domestic cricket, Lal has unarguably been one of the finest all-rounders - Lala Amarnath, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar and Kapil Dev included. In Test cricket, Lal was found wanting when it came to facing fast bowling, and somewhat lacking in penetration as an opening bowler. But he did carve a niche for himself in the one-day game and often gave his all in the World Cup.

Lal has the distinction of bowling the first ball in the World Cup at Lord’s, which he delivered to England’s John Jameson on 7 June 1975. Those were days when India were pushovers in limited-overs cricket. With hardly any experience in this version of the game they had little idea about how to restrict the scoring-rate of the opponents, or to get runs rapidly themselves.

It was hardly surprising, then, that England ran up a total of 334 for four, and when India’s turn came Sunil Gavaskar carried his bat through the 60 overs for an inglorious 36 not out in a score of 132 for three. Lal thus was denied the chance to bat but he did manage to get the wicket of centurion Dennis Amiss, conceding 64 runs in his 12 overs. India lost by 202 runs, the largest margin in the World Cup till 2003.

There was a cakewalk against East Africa, a team comprising players from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, but mainly of Asian descent. Also playing for the East Africans was Don Pringle, father of Derek Pringle who represented England a few years later.

Lal was a handful for the innocents from the new cricketing region. He cleaned up the tail, returning with figures of three for 15 off 9.3 overs.

In their crucial encounter with New Zealand, India ran into trouble straightaway and were tottering at 101 for six. Lal joined his senior all-rounder Abid Ali in a face-saving stand of 55. New Zealand clinched victory with seven deliveries to go as Lal conceded 62 runs off 11.5 overs, dismissing wicketkeeper Ken Wadsworth who, tragically, died just 14 months later at the age of 29. That was the end of India’s undistinguished campaign in the first World Cup.

Lal was not in the squad in the 1979 World Cup, which was an unmitigated disaster for India. In 1983 it was a more assured team, under a new captain Kapil Dev, and Lal was a key member.

That confidence was evident in their opening fixture against twice-champions, the West Indies. India ran up a formidable total of 262 for eight in their 60 overs, Lal coming up with an unbeaten 21 at the end. He then bowled economically, giving away only 34 runs in his 12 overs, and capturing the wicket of Faoud Bacchus. India handed the West Indies their first defeat in the World Cup.

In the outing against lightweights Zimbabwe, Lal was India’s best bowler. As the ball swung around at Grace Road in Leicester, Lal rocked the top order, capturing three for 27 in 10.4 overs.

He trapped Grant Paterson leg-before and had Jack Heron caught behind by Syed Kirmani in quick succession. He also had David Houghton snapped up by Kirmani, who took five catches in the innings, a World Cup record that was surpassed by Adam Gilchrist in 2003. For this effort Lal bagged the man-of-the-match award.

India performed miserably in the third match against Australia, conceding 320 runs in the stipulated 60 overs. Lal, though he gave away 69 runs in his 12 overs, captured the important wickets of skipper Kim Hughes and left-hander David Hookes in a flurry.

Then with the side precariously placed at 66 for six amid poor light and interruptions through rain, Lal got together with Kapil Dev to put on 58 for the seventh wicket in just nine overs. He scored 27 as India folded for 158.

The West Indies were seeking revenge and duly got it in the return encounter. But the game against Zimbabwe at the Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells was full of surprises.

With India crashing to 17 for five, and Kapil Dev counter-attacking with perhaps the innings of his life, Lal’s task was to provide solid support to the skipper. Walking in at 78 for seven, he played the ideal foil in a 62-run stand. Though his contribution was just 17, it was an invaluable effort as it provided a launch pad for Kapil Dev’s final assault.

With the ball Lal was once again up to the task. He knocked out the middle-order as the Zimbabweans made a brave effort to win a match that seemed to be in their pocket in the early stages. He dismissed Houghton for the second time in the tournament, and also Gerald Peckover and top-scorer Kevin Curran (73), who turned out a brilliant all-round display in the match.

Lal finished with three for 42 in 11 overs to play a significant part as India eventually won, albeit after a severe jolt. This was the turning point in India’s campaign and they never looked back thereafter.

The last round-robin match against Australia was extremely crucial to both teams in the race to the semi-finals. Lal tried to add much-needed runs at the end as India folded for 247 with 25 deliveries remaining.

But the seamers throttled the Aussie scoring. Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Roger Binny removed the top before Lal got into the act. He ran through the middle-order, including top-scorer Allan Border (36), to leave the Australians gasping. He completed the formalities by castling Jeff Thomson, and India were through to the semi-finals for the first time.

Lal’s four for 20 off 8.2 overs was a fine exhibition of controlled seam bowling.

The penultimate round against England at Old Trafford gradually turned surprisingly one-sided in India’s favour. They defeated the hosts easily by 6 wickets on a slow track as Kirti Azad and Mohinder Amarnath checked the run flow.

The low-scoring final has already gone into history as one of the biggest upsets in the game. Batting at No. 9, Lal played a useful hand as the West Indies bowlers throttled the innings. And when all seemed lost with India’s collapse for a meagre 183, Lal raised the team’s hopes with the ball.

After Gordon Greenidge misjudged Sandhu’s in-cutter, Lal dismissed Desmond Haynes. But he struck a mortal blow when Vivian Richards skied one high up over mid-wicket just when the master blaster was beginning to cut loose. Kapil Dev held a superbly judged catch running back; this was the magic moment.

Clive Lloyd recognized Lal's resilience: "It's amazing how Madan remains so unruffled after getting so much stick. Several times I have seen him being hit around and yet, he inevitably avenges this, bowling better and better."

Lal himself gave an interesting insight into that vital dismissal: "Richards was a great batsman but if you threw a bait, he would go for it. He took a chance with the bowler and that gave you a hope, even if it was a slender one. That day, the ball was moving at Lord's. The ball which got Richards, I bowled a little faster than the preceding two deliveries. That's why he mistimed. I had put a little more pace into it."

Lal then had Larry Gomes caught in the slips by Sunil Gavaskar, as the West Indies slipped further and further into the mire. Lal took three for 31 off his 12 overs, and India lifted the Prudential Cup to everyone’s surprise.

Lal played a major role not only in wresting the world title but also in making India a force to reckon with in one-day cricket. He was one who would always give a hundred per cent, and what he lacked in terms of pure talent was made up by sheer effort.

Lal was a player any captain would love to have in his team, as Kapil Dev found to his delight in 1983.

Madan Lal’s World Cup record:

Matches 11, Highest Score 27, Runs 122, Average 30.50, Strike-rate 60.69, Catch 1

Wickets 22, Average 19.36, Best 4/20, Economy 3.66

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Edited by Musab Abid