Birth of the Chinnaswamy magic: Debut of Viv Richards and a century from Gordon Greenidge

The first Test match at the venue was a celebrated event across the city. The debut of Viv Richards and a century from Gordon Greenidge made the occasion even more special...

BENGALURU: Nov 22, 1974. A nippy winter morning — following a night of heavy rain — did nothing to dampen the atmosphere. Festivity and enthusiasm enveloped the city. Many schools had declared a holiday. People started to queue up outside the KSCA stadium much before sunrise. Everyone wanted to witness history — the first Test match in the state. They saw more than that, witnessing the debut of a legend called Viv Richards and the beginning of the greatness of Gordon Greenidge.

The maiden international match at the venue had its share of teething trouble. “The stadium was still under construction. The galleries were temporary structures and before the match, people feared that it may not withstand the weight. To allay the notion, Mr Chinnaswamy had 40-50 sandbags placed in the gallery to assure people,” recalled S Devanath, a seasoned journalist who covered the match.

The first day started with rain and the match did not start until noon. “There was a student discount and as a result, people started queuing up from 6 am. Lines stretched up to the BRV theatre (now BRV junction),” recollected the octogenarian.

Amid the hype of the match was the disappointment of spin whiz Bishan Singh Bedi being dropped on disciplinary grounds. “But we had the home-grown heroes EAS Prasanna and BS Chandrasekhar, so no one was complaining,” added Devanath.

While debutants Richards and Greenidge were relatively unknown, people were keen to watch the likes of Andy Roberts, visiting skipper Clive Llyod and Alvin Kallicharran among the away team players.

Among those in the stands was a young Roger Binny. “The atmosphere was electrifying, with the stands packed to the rafters. As the state schools’ team members, we were given passes for a stand with the midwicket view. After India, West Indies was my favourite team, and I was excited to see Andy Roberts bowl. It was the spirit of the sport and not the result that mattered,” said Binny, now BCCI president, who incidentally made his Test debut at the same venue five years later.

Greenidge scored 93 and 107, while skipper Llyod crafted a century (163), as did Kallicharran (124). Richards had a rather forgettable debut, dismissed for 4 and 3 both by spin whiz Chandrasekhar. While the Indian spinners turned on the heat, the Windies pacers were too hot for the Indian batters to handle, and the hosts lost the contest by 267 runs.

Brief scores: West Indies 289 all out in 95.2 overs (Greenidge 93, Kallicharran 124, Llyod 30; Chandrasekhar 4-112, Venkataraghavan 4-75) & 356/6 decl in 83 overs (Greenidge 107, Kallicharran 29, Llyod 163, V Holder 26 n.o; Venkataraghvan 2-79, Chandrasekhar 2-102)beat India: 260 all out (Kanitkar 65, Vishwanath 29, Abid Ali 49; Roberts 3-65, Holder 3-37) & 118 all out in 42.5 overs (Roberts 3-24, Boyce 3-43).

NUMBERS AT CHINNASWAMY

Test

• Matches played in the format: 25
• The highest team total by India vs Pakistan in Dec 2007: 626
• Runs scored by Sachin Tendulkar in nine matches, the most scored by a batsman at the venue: 869
• Wickets taken by Anil Kumble in nine matches, the most at the venue: 41
• Third wicket partnership between Pakistan's Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq (Ind vs Pak, 2005): 323

ODIs

• Matches played: 31
• Highest total by India, against Netherlands in 2023: 410/4
• The lowest total, England vs Sri Lanka 2023: 156
• Most runs by an individual, Sachin Tendulkar in 11 matches: 534
• Most sixes, Rohit Sharma in five matches: 30
• Highest individual score, Rohit Sharma against Australia in 2013: 209
• Most wickets, Zaheer Khan in eight matches: 14
• The best bowling figure, Yuvraj Singh against Ireland in 2011: 5/31
• The highest partnership between Australia's David Warner and Mitch Marsh vs Pakistan, 2023: 259

T20Is

• Matches played: 10
• Highest total, India vs Afghanistan, 2024: 212/4
• Lowest total, Sri Lanka vs West Indies 2016: 122/9
• Most runs, Rohit Sharma in four matches: 150
• Most wickets, Yuzvendra Chahal in two matches: 6
• Best bowling figures, by Chahal, against England 2017: 6/25
• Highest partnership, Rohit Sharma & Rinku Singh against Afghanistan in 2024: 190*

IPL

• Matches played: 93
• Highest team total, Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), 2024: 287/3
• Lowest total, RCB vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 2008: 82
• Highest individual score, Chris Gayle, RCB vs Pune Warriors India 2013: 175*
• Best bowling figures, Mumbai Indian's Samuel Badree vs RCB: 4/9
• Most runs, RCB's Virat Kohli in 84 innings: 2966
• Most wicket's Yuzvendra Chahal in 42 matches: 52