00:00Step back into the golden era of the late 1980s, where the air was crisp, the pitches
00:06were lively, and the batting was pure artistry.
00:09We are heading to Eden Park, Auckland, during the third Test match of India's 1990 tour
00:15of New Zealand.
00:16While the record books show a gritty 47 runs of 115 balls, the scoreboard does not even
00:22begin to describe the sheer elegance of the man they call the Colonel.
00:27At the peak of his power, Dilip Vinsaka was not just playing cricket, he was conducting
00:33a symphony with a piece of willow.
00:57Good chase, but he can give it away, it's a well-timed stroke, and four runs.
01:02Shane Thompson from Hamilton in his first Test, Vinsaka in his 107th, got a good shot, could
01:10chase on for great bad, it's a long boundary out there at backwood point, and the paddy
01:15man makes a big dive.
01:19And they've walked back for three, that's the call from the umpires, there is no signal,
01:26so it's only three.
01:27Red Batch saved one with the dive.
01:30It looked to me as if the ball came to rest against the rope.
01:33What's the rule here, Peter, for this ground?
01:35Over the rope, or on the rope, or past the rope, through the rope?
01:40Good question.
01:41Well, let's have a look, it might not have rested there, let's hope it didn't.
01:44I normally talk to the umpires about that just to find out what the local conditions are.
01:47It's slowing down all the time, Great Batch is nowhere near it.
01:51Yeah, I think that was four, that was four, it went over, didn't it?
01:59Beautiful shot played by Vinsaka out through mid-ricket.
02:01Another big chase on here for Mark Great Batch.
02:03Are you going to see another dive to stop this?
02:07It's more the cultured slide.
02:11Might not have gone for four anyway, but good piece of fielding, good chase by Mark Great Batch,
02:16it's three runs for Dilip Vinsaka, and he goes to 38, it's 184 for three.
02:25Well, Vinsaka didn't play that one with much conviction, but it's four runs.
02:36Here for a catch behind, caught by Smith.
02:41Danny Morrison has a wicket, induced the hook shot from Dilip Vinsaka.
02:49Is it the handle of the bat, or perhaps the gloves of Vinsaka which caught up with it?
02:55Certainly a noise as it went through, Smith claimed to catch down the leg side,
02:59and it's a wicket for Danny Morrison, his second.
03:01Dilip Vinsaka out for 47.
03:18The highlight reel starts with a display of wristy, genius that could make a watchmaker jealous.
03:25Watch as the New Zealand Pacers pray just as a fraction too straight, with a gentle closing of the face.
03:32Dilip Vinsaka effortlessly whips two consecutive deliveries of his pads.
03:37They were not just boundaries, they were a statement of intent.
03:42These three-two watch shots showcased a player who had the uncanny ability to find gaps that fielders did not
03:49even know existed.
03:51But it was not all about the finances of the wrist.
03:55Every great innings needs a signature moment, and for Vinsaka, it was that flamboyant cover drive.
04:01With a high elbow and a stride that covered the length of the pitch, he leaned onto the full delivery,
04:07sending it screaming through the covers.
04:09It was a shot that encapsulated his entire career.
04:13Bold, authoritative, and drabbed in class.
04:16In those 162 minutes at the Currys, he reminded me why he was the backbone of the Indian middle order
04:22for over a decade.
04:25It is often said that Vinsaka's career entered just a chapter too early.
04:30Many experts believe that he had played a few more seasons.
04:34He not anyone else would have been the first man to hunt down Sniil Gawaskar's legendary mountain of 10,000
04:42test runs.
04:43He was a pillar of Indian cricket's most successful era, a World Cup winner in 1983, a champion in 1985,
04:51and the captain who led India to the Asia Cup glory in 1988.
04:55Even the bizarre seafood allergy that cost him a 1987 World Cup semi-final could not dim his brilliance.
05:04As we look back at his brief but beautiful innings, we celebrate a true vintage classic.
05:09happy.
05:09happy.
05:10happy.
Comments