26 cricketing moments at the city of light, where Bumrah’s Indians face Cummins-led Aussies in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener
Irfan Pathan (4th from left) celebrates with teammates after dismissing Australian batsman Chris Rogers at the WACA ground on January 18, 2008. Pic/Getty Images
A for Amarnath. Jimmy proved what a valuable member of the 1977-78 Indian team he could be with knocks of 90 and 100 in the second Test at Perth. And what a venue to get your maiden Test ton.
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B for Bedi. The 1977-78 captain of India became the first Indian to claim 10 wickets in a Test on Australian soil. The batsmen he dismissed in both innings were John Dyson, David Ogilvie, Peter Toohey and Tony Mann.
C for Curtly. The great Antiguan claimed more wickets than any other non-Aussie bowler (24 in 3 Tests) in Perth. His 7-25 in 1992-93 included a spell of 7 for 1.
D for Doug. Dashing Walters hit the last ball of the day off Bob Willis for a six to reach his century in Perth, 1974-75. His teammates tried to prank him by hiding in the showers when he came in, but Doug didn’t react and fooled them instead.
E for Edwards. The Western Australian played only one Test innings at Perth in 1974-75 and scored a hundred against England in the same innings as Walters. He retired the following year.
F for Fredericks, the WI opener who smashed 169 off 145 balls against Greg Chappell’s team in 1975-76. His 100 came off only 71 balls. When Ian Chappell asked his brother Greg whether he had seen the scoreboard which showed how fast Fredericks was scoring, Greg refused saying, “it’s ok for you, you’re not the captain.”
G for Gavaskar. The little master’s hundred in the second Test at Perth in 1977-78 was his Ton No. 2 of the series. The second innings 127 put him on par with Polly Umrigar’s tally of 12 Test centuries.
H for Hughes, one of the seven Western Australians in the playing XI in the 1981-82 Perth Test v Pak—Kim, Bruce Laird, Graeme Wood, Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee, Bruce Yardley, Terry Alderman.
I for Irfan. The man of the match in India’s sterling win in the 2007-08 Perth Test after losing the Melbourne and Sydney Tests. He claimed five wickets in the game and played useful knocks of 28 and 46.
J for Jeff. Thommo loved bowling in Perth and he famously injured England opener David Lloyd in the groin in the 1974-75 Test in which Lloyd’s abdomen guard, among other things, were crushed.
K for Kapil. The Haryana Hurricane became the first Indian to claim 400 Test wickets during the fifth Test of the 1991-92 series at Perth. When he returned to the WACA dressing room, he was given a congratulatory message from Richard Hadlee, the first 400-wkts man.
L for Lillee, who kicked Pakistan captain Javed Miandad in the 1981-82 Perth Test. Miandad in response threatened to hit Dennis with his bat before umpire Tony Crafter averted a worse situation.
M for McKenzie, the pace bowler who delivered the first ball of a Perth Test in 1971. Interestingly, Garth (his nickname), a Western Australian, claimed four wickets in the innings but he didn’t impress the pundits. “He loped mechanically in for each delivery,” wrote journalist Eric Beecher.
N for Nathan. He was player of the match when Aus beat India in the 2018-19 Perth Stadium Test. Lyon claimed eight in the game. In four Tests here he has 27 wickets.
O for Ogilvie. An adhesive No. 3 batsman, blooded in the 1977-78 series against India, David took three and a half hours to score 47 to help Australia chase down 339.
P for Phillips. Two players bearing the same first and surname made their Test debuts at Perth. Phillips Sr, a wicketkeeper-opening batsman was called for the 1983-84 Perth Test v Pakistan while the other Wayne played v India in 1991-92.
Q for Quirky. The India v England Test at Chennai and the Australia v SA one at Perth was held in December 2008. While India won by six wickets, the Proteas triumphed by the same margin, as pointed out by Kersi Meher-Homji in his book, Cricket Quirky Cricket.
R for Richards. After unrewarding visits to the crease in 1975-76 and 1984-85, Viv finally got a century in the 1988-89 Test.
S for Sachin. As if to prove again what a special talent he was, Tendulkar came up with an outstanding hundred at Perth in 1991-92 following his ton in Sydney.
T for Tony. A real thorn in India’s side in the 1977-78 Perth Test. Local hero Mann became the first Australian to score a ton as a Test nightwatchman.
U for Umesh, the last Indian after BS Bedi and Manoj Prabhakar to bag a fifer at the WACA. Yadav bagged 5-93 in Australia’s first innings of the 2011-12 Test.
V for Virat. A splendid hundred as captain in the 2018-19 Test went in vain as Australia got back with a win at Perth after a loss in the opening Test at Adelaide. Indian fans will be hoping for a ton this time too, but it should eventuate in a win.
W for WACA. The bounce this track offered thrilled bowlers and ensured the batsmen never relaxed even when set. Pace, bounce and carry were all part of the Perth pitch.
X for X factor. Who will be that for India? My prediction is Dhruv Jurel, who should put his familiarity to Australian conditions through the India ‘A’ tour to good use.
Y for Yardley. The late off-spinner from Perth, who made his debut v India in 1977-78, claimed 6-84 in his side’s win in the 1981-82 Perth Test against Pakistan.
Z for Zoehrer, the perky Perth-based wicketkeeper who India encountered during the 1986 Tied Test. Tim, who could also bowl leg spin, was known to drive a taxi.
mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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