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HEADLINE: When Clive Lloyd ordered India's bloodbath at Jamaica
CaribbeanCricket.com
2021-04-26 01:10:38
April 25, 1976. The end of the bloodbath in Jamaica, which gave the West Indies victory in the series by a slim 2-1 margin. Arunabha Sengupta looks back at some of the most hostile bowling ever seen in Test cricket.
As the demoralized Indian contingent disembarked from their flight at Bombay’s Santacruz Airport, not too many fans were waiting to welcome them back. One wonders whether even the biggest diehard follower of Indian cricket could have recognized them. Battered, bruised, and beleaguered, the men could have easily been taken for a troop on the way back from Ha Noi. Life and limb had been at peril, and yards of gauze and bandages spoke about the ghastly travails.
Gundappa Viswanath had a plaster cast running from his forearm to fingers. Anshuman Gaekwad was barely recognizable; his features wrapped from chin to crown in white dressing. Brijesh Patel had three stitches on his upper lip.
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Dukes
2021-04-26 03:26:59
All I would say is research the author.
Ninetenjack
2021-04-26 03:49:04
I still remember the headline in the newspaper, "I did not declare" said Bedi.
johndom90
2021-04-26 04:47:40
No one suggested Lillee and Thomson were barbarian when we got broken and bruised the year before.
Or...they should go back to prison ...caves where they belong....
Gordon Greenidge in his auto bio described facing Lillee in Australia and the crowd
roaring Kill..Kill... Kill...as Lillee came charging in.
On the contrary.....We sucked it up! and came back better for it.
googley
2021-04-26 14:20:55
In reply to johndom90
I would like to think India also came back better because of that battering.
imusic
2021-04-26 15:02:13
In Sunny Days, Gavaskar devotes an entire chapter on the Test, under the rather graphic title Barbarism in Kingston. Some of the sections may be rather difficult to swallow with modern age sensibilities moulded under the weight of political correctness, but they demonstrate exactly how the opening batsman felt while being singed by the fire. Holding and Daniel peppered the two men with their lethal deliveries, and the crowd bayed for their blood.
To call the crowd a crowd in Jamaica is a misnomer. It should be called a mob. The way they shrieked and howled every time Holding bowled was positively horrible. They encouraged him with shouts of Kill him, maan!, Hit him, maan!, Knock his head off, Mike! All this proved beyond a shadow of doubt that these people still belonged to the jungles and forests, instead of a civilised country.
Their partisan attitude was even more evident when they did not applaud any shots we played. At one stage I even demanded claps for a boundary shot off Daniel. All I got was laughter from the section, which certainly hadnt graduated from the trees where they belonged
They were stamping their legs, clapping and jumping with joy. The only word I can think of to describe the behaviour of the crowd is barbarian. Here was a man seriously injured, and these barbarians were thirsting for more blood, instead of expressing sympathy, as any civilised and sporting crowd would have done
. The whole thing was sickening. Never have I seen such cold-blooded and positively indifferent behaviour from cricket officials. And the spectators, to put it mildly, were positively inhuman.
Those words by Gavaskar tho. Tells you what he thinks of black people.
First time Im aware of his comments and theyre reprehensible.
johndom90
2021-04-26 15:31:25
First time Im aware of his comments and theyre reprehensible.
In reply to imusic
I myself was similarly not aware, and it has caused me deep breath.
Gavaskar was one of my early cricketing models..... '71 in my very formative years, and still held in high cricketing esteem,
but such statements ....if he was quoted/published accurately , are indeed reprehensible. It also helps me understand the seeming coolness with which he is greeted by some of his WI peers of the time....to this day.
It further helps to understand the origins of certain India Indian poster's description of past team WI as barbarians animals,,,
johndom90
2021-04-26 15:38:05
In reply to googley
It took them a while, a long while, but they did ...and here they are today - a force to be reckoned with, especially with the unearthing of genuine fast bowling talent
googley
2021-04-26 15:52:25
In reply to johndom90
True...started with the inclusion of Kapil Dev in 1978, winning the WC in 83.....
Islander
2021-04-26 16:40:07
In reply to imusic
For those who are learning about this for the first time I exhort you not to dismiss such venom as a mere historical footnote. Gavaskar was born in a world of serious depravity and in the midst of unspeakable subhuman acts and conditions in India. India was in its embryonic stage as an independent country and tribal violence was rampant. There was a search for an identity. Animosity among castes class and religion was pervasive. Open slaughter was commonplace. Gavaskar himself was born with a physical abnormality ( which he admits )and must be understood in light of a likely deep sense of insecurity and even self loathing.
Sunil Gavaskar does not have much of a formal education and overachieved with the bat - one of the best Indians to ever do it. However, it is this phenomenon of projection often referred to by Psychiatrists which allows inadequate humans to dehumanize others. At its extreme it becomes necessary for their mental survivability.
He is who he is.
Brerzerk
2021-04-26 17:47:02
Brerzerk
2021-04-26 17:49:39
In reply to johndom90
i believe because of their fast-bowling pool India
has the most rounded attack in all formats
johndom90
2021-04-26 19:40:22
fast-bowling
In reply to Brerzerk
that was Indias weakness for years.
By creating a local fast bowling pool , Indian batsmen got used to and developed better techniques against the pacers at home ...not having to face it only when on tour. Better preparation all around.
Lungidi2017
2021-04-26 21:46:40
In reply to johndom90
And then, in 2021 - Indians minus all their stars with 6 debutants were the first visiting team to ever win at Gabba - in 31 years!!
Now, thats some preparation- hardcore.
Hope they can repeat this in England this year - will be interesting when they visit SA next year.
Norm
2021-04-27 01:24:13
In reply to imusic
Those words by Gavaskar tho. Tells you what he thinks of black people.
Not necessarily. His comments may have been limited to that particular crowd at Sabina Park that day.
Ultimately, it confirms that the beating by WI that day went deeper than the wounds inflicted that day. We still see some Indian fans showing up here and crying over that, and many other beatings by WI on India over the years!
Also, Lloyd did not order anything, let alone a "bloodbath". It was the last Test in a 4-Test series and the Indian players had accumulated a series of injuries from the previous Tests. If I am not mistaken, India had won a previous Test in T&T by scoring 405-4 against pretty much the same WI attack.
Jumpstart
2021-04-27 05:23:20
In reply to googley
What? Kapil was a medium pacer. A very skilled medium pacer. But India had oroduced tons of bowlers like him. Madan Lal, Manoj Prabhakar etc. India's first genuine pace bowler was Javagal Srinath. For quite a while, he was the only Indian pacer who had delivered a ball over 150 kph. I think it was about six years before an indian pacer seriously bowled near to those speeds. Ashish Nehra bowled a ball that measured 149.7 kph. The change in philosophy in indian cricket is solely down to Virat in the same way the same way the WI change in philosophy was down to Clive
India's fast bowling stocks are a direct result of Virat Kohli's exceptional commitment to fitness. To bowl quick over long periods of time, you have to be fit. Not every ball you are going to bowl is going to be 145 or 150 kph. But there is not a big difference betweem 140 kph and 145 kph. Most express quicks try to keep ecerything consistently above 140 kph. And to do that, you have to be fit. Look at india's pace bowling before Kohli's captaincy. India was content to have trundlers as their strike bowlers. Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan was a good swing bowler but he wasn't quick. So was irfan pathan. Umesh and Ishant were india' s two genuinely quick bowlers from 2008 to 2012. Under the then philosophy, their careers staggered, at one point both finding themselves out of the team. Its only under Kohli did their careers get the needed attention. Ian Bishop actually pointed out to Ishant Sharma a problem with his action during a tour the WI had of india. And soon after that Ishant changed his personal coach, who had tried to turn him into a trundler who only bowls full and waits on conditions to help him, and started relying on his pace and his height. And also his fitness.
Dukes
2021-04-27 12:44:32
From an INDIAN cricket website in 2066 here is the Headline of an article from an English writer Jack Williams (born 2018 )
WHEN Virat Kohli ORDERED A DUSTBOWL IN CHENNAI TO BURY ENGLISH CRICKET
Barry
2021-04-27 16:26:11
In reply to imusic
Yes they are.
granite
2021-04-27 19:08:35
I was given a synopsis of that match by a 6 year old Jamaican boy one week after he came to England,he told me all about how "plenty barl ah lik up de Hindian batman,one ah dem gat em ja bruk up".The little boy stayed with us a few times and at six he played cricket with surprising skill especially when batting,he also told me he wants to bat like Gavaskar.
Khaga
2021-04-27 19:39:57
In reply to Dukes
From an INDIAN cricket website in 2066 here is the Headline of an article from an English writer Jack Williams (born 2018 )
WHEN Virat Kohli ORDERED A DUSTBOWL IN CHENNAI TO BURY ENGLISH CRICKET
Jackass err.. Jack Williams will use the oxygen shortage to extrapolate his story to claim the English batsmen didn't receive oxygen in time..