India E04 Best Selling Win – Madan Lal in India’s 1974 Test Victory over West Indies in Kolkata

Having an achievement like the 1983 World Cup on your resume is one thing. But it’s a whole other deal to kickstart your career with a winning performance against a fearsome team that beat West India at home in your first year of international cricket.

Our guest on this episode has witnessed it all – the struggles, the ascent, the heights and the obstacles that Indian men’s cricket has had to go through, as a player, as a coach members and selectors. In this episode, we catch up with the World Cup champion Madan Lal.

Listen to the full episode here and read the full transcript below

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INTERVIEW TABLE OF WOMEN

Vijay Lokapally: Welcome Maddi pa, welcome to Sportsstar podcast its a series on some of India’s greatest victories in Test cricket and you have been a part of many famous victories I mean when we look at the 1983 world championship cup, the 1985 world championship of cricket, the 76 Port of Spain chase and the great Calcutta victory over the West Indies in the 74-75 seasons as.. your first match, so Maddi pa, you will pick your best wins…. obviously 83 of us are there and how do you rate Calcutta’s win.

Madan Lal: I don’t know how to choose… you know, one… one of the best… any win, it gives you a great feeling, after all, you playing for victory you win if you win a match or world cup or Benson – Hedges cup or Asian cup you know it makes you feel so happy and you feel proud to be a member of team so you know, it became very difficult because the West Indies team used to be very strong. day and you know they have the best speed and they have the best batting players on their batting squad, so you know it’s not easy to beat them looking at their team , you know, their XI players, so sure you know like Worldcup and Benson hedges is a day of cricket but winning a test match is totally different because the test match has class, It is test of test. When you win a test, only then do you feel different from anything else and I’m sure, you know, in 1974, I played for the first time in Calcutta so I won. There is also a lot of importance there. our life

Vijay: And Maddi Pa, I’m sure you remember your first season was terrible and we didn’t play well but how did we come back so strong after that?

Madan: We had a pretty bad season in England because there was nothing there at the time, we made a lot of mistakes and the tour was poorly organised. We went into the first half, and you know how difficult it is to adapt to English conditions in the first half. Our spinners get the greenhead because they leave more grass on the field, making it very difficult for them to hit the ball on those bridges. However, when we returned home, everything changed for us when we were playing at home, and we had a distinct advantage, because we could prepare the players as we wanted, and that was the only way to defeat the mighty West Indies.

Vijay: Maddi Pa, due to a performance in ’74, Ajit Wadekar was replaced by Tiger Pataudi as captain of India, tell us about your playing experience with Tiger Pataudi.

Madan: I didn’t spend much time with Tiger Pataudi. I remember a match at Poona (Pune) after the tour of Sri Lanka, where he (Pataudi) did 132 runs, and I still remember that round very well. I didn’t play that match, but I soon realized that he was an excellent player when I saw him hit the ball. In Test matches, he usually doesn’t talk much, but when he speaks, he always speaks to the point, and that’s his forte. His leadership system is linked to his three great spinners, he feels he can win Test matches with them simply because they are the best in the world at what they do. did. He has a wealth of knowledge about the game, including how to read the game, where on the field and when to change pitchers. I only played a few games with him, but the time I spent with him was pleasant.

Vijay: Maddi Pa, Now we come to this Test match where we fought back from consecutive losses in that series and you played an important role in that match. Before I remind you of it, what was your impression of that match?

Madan: In this match, I also scored and caught the ball. It’s my nature and willing to contribute in any way to the team in whatever game I’m playing because that’s the only way you can stay in the team, whether you’re scoring goals, starting ball or catch the ball well. I still remember taking four shots, including Richard’s, and scoring about 40 runs, so here are a few things I remember, but as time goes on, these memories fade away. …

(More to follow)