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Sunil Gavaskar scored a century in the first innings, while Kapil Dev took 11 wickets in the match, leading India to a historic series win over Pakistan.
Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev: Two legends whose brilliance on the field defined India’s cricketing triumphs. (File pic)
On This Day In 1980: Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev were the architects of India’s second series win against arch-rivals Pakistan. The historic feat was achieved with a Test victory at Chepuak on this day in 1980. Pakistan toured India to play a six-match bilateral series.
The first two Tests ended in Bengaluru and Delhi ended in a draw. The hosts, under the leadership of Gavaskar, notched a commanding 131-run win in the next game at Mumbai’s Wankhede. The fourth Test in Kanpur again found no result. India bounced back in Chennai and beat Pakistan by ten wickets to take an unassailable lead in the series.
The visiting captain, Asif Iqbal won the toss and decided to bat first. Kapil Dev fetched a four-wicket haul and Karsan Ghavri picked three scalps as Pakistan wrapped up their first innings with 272 runs. Majid Khan was their leading scorer with 56 runs while Sadiq Mohammad and Javed Miandad missed their half-centuries by just four and five runs respectively.
Sunil Gavaskar gave India a powerful start despite losing his opening partner Chetan Chauhan early in the innings. Among the next batters, only Yashpal Sharma could make a valuable contribution, scoring 46 off 122 balls.
Following his dismissal, Kapil Dev arrived at the crease and paired up with Gavaskar.
By that time, Gavaskar had already completed his century. The then-India skipper finally surrendered to Imran Khan at 166 runs. His inning-defining knock was laced with 15 boundaries and one six. Dev then joined hands with Roger Binny and kept the scoreboard ticking. The legendary all-rounder registered 84 runs while Binny remained unbeaten at 42.
For Pakistan, Imran Khan bagged five wickets. He was well-supported by Iqbal Qasim who got three under his belt. The Pakistani batters once again faced a collapse in the second innings.
This time, Kapil Dev struck seven times, bowling 23.4 overs. Among the other Indian bowlers, Dilip Joshi picked two scalps and Karsan Ghavri took the crucial wicket of Majid Khan.
Javed Miandad and Wasim Raja were the standout performers for Pakistan. Each of them scored a fifty but the other team members were unable to breach the 30-run mark.
Pakistan were ultimately restricted to 233 runs. Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan were not troubled much chasing a 76-run target and sailed India across the line in 18 overs.