The third time the Aussies visited India was in 1964-65, they played three Tests and shared the series 1-1. A win at Madras, despite left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni bowling his heart for India and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi hitting a grand century, put Australia in a firm seat. Three days later India began a journey which culminated in victory at Bombay. The hero was leg-spinner B.S. Chandrasekhar, who grabbed four wickets in each innings to trigger the Indian revival with adequate support from Pataudi and Vijay Manjrekar.
In Tiger's Tale, Pataudi notes "I regard our victory by two wickets at Bombay as the most satisfying I've known as India's captain. It gave a tremendous boost to our morale, also to cricket as a whole in India." Pataudi wrote "Nandkarni again bowled very accurately and was aided by the pacy googlies of Chandrasekhar." Tiger himself played a significant role in the run-chases later. The last Test at Calcutta was a draw as rain robbed play on the last two days. It was the first time that India had drawn as a series at home with Australia. Continue reading below
1st Test at Madras (Corporation), 2-7 October 1964
Australia won their third consecutive Test at Madras. They completed their victory with 109 minutes to spare after India had been left to score 333 runs in 390 minutes. Pataudi's 128 not out was then the highest score by an Indian captain against Australia. He emulated his father by scoring a hundred in his first innings against Australia. In the second innings, Veivers shared in two record Australian partnerships against India: 64 with Martin for the seventh wicket, and 73 for the eighth with McKenzie.
Brief Scores
Australia: 211
WM Lawry 62, NCL O'Neill 40, RB Simpson 30
RG Nadkarni 5-31, AG Kripal Singh 3-43, SA Durani 2-68
India: 276
Nawab of Pataudi,jr. 128*, CG Borde 49, VL Manjrekar 33
GD McKenzie 6-58, NJN Hawke 2-55, JW Martin 2-63
Australia: 397
RB Simpson 77, TR Veivers 74, PJP Burge 60
RG Nadkarni 6-91, VB Ranjane 2-53, SA Durani 1-102
India: 193
Hanumant Singh 94, VL Manjrekar 40, RG Nadkarni 20
GD McKenzie 4-33, TR Veivers 2-18, NJN Hawke 2-26
Australia won by 139 runs:
2nd Test at Bombay (Brabourne),10-15 October 1964
PAGE_BREAK
A last-day crowd of 42,000 saw India gain only their second victory in 15 Tests against Australia. They accomplished this with just two wickets and half an hour to spare. The result might well have been reversed if O'Neill had not succumbed to an indigenous internal malady on the first morning. Curiously, none of the 11 fifties made in this match was converted into a hundred.
Brief Scores
Australia: 320
PJP Burge 80, BN Jarman 78, TR Veivers 67
BS Chandrasekhar 4-50, RG Nadkarni 2-65, CG Borde 1-23
India: 341
Nawab of Pataudi,jr. 86, ML Jaisimha 66, VL Manjrekar 59
TR Veivers 4-68, AN Connolly 3-66, JW Martin 2-72
Australia: 274
RM Cowper 81, BC Booth 74, WM Lawry 68
RG Nadkarni 4-33, BS Chandrasekhar 4-73, RF Surti 1-77
India: 8-256
DN Sardesai 56, Nawab of Pataudi,jr 53, VL Manjrekar 39
AN Connolly 3-24, GD McKenzie 2-43, TR Veivers 2-82
India won by 2 wickets
3rd Test at Calcutta, 17-22 October 1964
For only the third time in 54 Tests staged in India, rain seriously interrupted play. As on both previous occasions- India v Pakistan at Madras in 1952-53 and India v England at Delhi in 1961-62 - two days were completely lost. Durani, slow left-arm, returned a career-best analysis to bring about Australia's dramatic first innings collapse which saw all ten wickets fall for 77 – some 20 runs fewer than the opening partnership.
Brief Scores
Australia: 174
RB Simpson 67, WM Lawry 50, IR Redpath 32*
SA Durani 6-73, RF Surti 3-38, BS Chandrasekhar 1-39
India: 235
CG Borde 68*, ML Jaisimha 57, DN Sardesai 42
RB Simpson 4-45, TR Veivers 3-81, BC Booth 2-33
Australia: 143-1
RB Simpson 71, WM Lawry 47*, RM Cowper 14*
RF Surti 1-37, ML Jaisimha 0-4, RG Nadkarni 0-5
Match Drawn
