Tepid endings and glorious beginnings: Vijay Lokapally remembers India tour of England in 1996

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Tepid endings and glorious beginnings: Vijay Lokapally remembers India tour of England in 1996
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In this episode, we chat with the veteran cricket writer Vijay Lokapally on India’s 1996 tour to England.

Vijay relives the incandescent innings and spells he witnessed through the tour – both in the Tests as well as the tour games. He also gives us a detailed recap of Navjot Sidhu quitting the tour and remembers a special interview he did with Sachin Tendulkar.

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Talking Points:

  • India playing a Test series after more than seven months of one-day cricket
  • The focus on Mohammad Azharuddin – for cricketing and non-cricketing reasons
  • Vikram Rathour’s string of runs in the tour games – and his reputation in domestic cricket
  • Javagal Srinath confronting a strange autograph seeker
  • The Navjot Sidhu fiasco – and Vijay’s role in the series of events
  • Tendulkar’s symphony in the Edgbaston wreckage
  • Devon Malcolm’s fan-boy moment after Derbyshire’s game v the Indians
  • Sourav Ganguly’s take-that moment at Lord’s – and the pristine strokeplay
  • Rahul Dravid’s immaculate technique – as well as his love for books
  • Venkatesh Prasad’s break-out tour
  • Sandeep Patil’s challenges on his first assignment as team manager
  • The captaincy changing hands at the end of the tour
  • The players who faded away at the end of the series

Participants:

Vijay Lokapally (@vijaylokapally)

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)

Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd)

Related:

From Bedi to Kohli: a cricket writer’s journey – 81allout podcast with Vijay Lokapally

Ganguly all set to make his Test debut – Vijay Lokapally’s piece on the morning of the Lord’s Test in 1996

Navjot Singh Sidhu’s sudden mid-tour retirement raises questions – India Today archive

Lele reveals why Sidhu walked out of 1996 tour – Times of India

The man who stole the show – Wisden Almanac profile of Dickie Bird

Golden debuts – R Mohan’s report on the Lord’s Test

Highlights of the 1996 Lord’s Test – YouTube video

Rahul Dravid 95 at Lord’s on debut – YouTube video

Interview with Sourav Ganguly after his debut hundred – YouTube video

Sledges brawls and epic contests – 81allout podcast with Vijay Bharadwaj and Hemang Badani

Meaning of Sport – Simon Barnes

Breath of Sadness – Ian Ridley

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Lead image from here.


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