When Chepauk played host to fierce battles with the willow

Intense cricket rivalry between India and Australia at Chepauk Stadium, with historic ties and thrilling encounters over decades.

The Ashes and matches featuring India and Pakistan are often deemed the highest points in cricketing rivalry. But over the last two decades, a contest pitting India against Australia has acquired a distinct aura.

Perhaps the early seeds of this fascinating duel were sowed at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in the Madras of the past. On the fertile turf that is Chepauk, as the venue is popularly known, India and Australia had two stirring battles in the 1980s.

In the first Test of the 1986 series, Kapil Dev’s men and Allan Border’s doughty troops went hard at each other. Border, tough as nails, was attempting a revival of Australian cricket. He led a team high on talent and one that revealed the innate skills of David Boon, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh, and Craig McDermott, to name a few. Meanwhile, Kapil had the senior duo of Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath, local star K. Srikkanth, youngsters like Mohammad Azharuddin, Maninder Singh, and Chetan Sharma, besides all-rounder Ravi Shastri.

It was a September high on heat and humidity and in a sweaty cauldron partially mitigated through the sea breeze from the nearby Marina Beach, Dean Jones scored a splendid 210.

The weather still got to the batter. He threw up beside the pitch, but Border pressed him to bat on. Australia wrested the first innings honours, but Border was keen on a second innings shootout, and India was set a target of 348. Kapil, having scored a superb ton in the first dig, was interested in the target.

The brand of fearless cricket bandied about these days was evident back then too. Led by Gavaskar’s 90, the Indian batting tangoed at full gusto before a clutch of wickets left the final day on a razor edge.

Shastri shepherded the tail but when the scores were level, last man Maninder was adjudged leg before wicket (lbw) to spinner Greg Matthews. It was the second tie in cricket and history was made at the Chepauk. As always, Chennai’s knowledgeable crowd embraced the result even if Shastri to this day believes that the lbw was a bit dubious!