Madan Lal

A top-class all-rounder, Madan Lal, represented India in 39 Tests and 67 ODIs. With a side-on bowling action, he was a medium pacer and a handy batsman lower down the order. He was an important member of the Indian squad that won the 1983 World Cup.

He had an outstanding first-class career, scoring 10204 runs at an average of 42.87 while he picked up 625 wickets at 25.50. After a string of good performances in domestic cricket, Madan Lal was picked for India's tour of England in 1974. He had a forgettable Test debut at Old Trafford as he only took two wickets and made 9 runs in India's 113-run defeat.

He remained wicketless in the next Test at Lord's as India lost the game by a massive margin of an innings and 285 runs. He didn't feature in the final Test of the series but remained a part of the Indian squad. He next played against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in December 1974. After scoring 48 in the first innings with 10 boundaries, Lal took 4/22 to push West Indies to the wall. India eventually won the game by 85 runs and Lal cemented his place in the side.

Lal remained in the Indian squad till the 1977/78 tour of Australia, where he picked up 9 wickets across two Tests, including a 5-wicket haul in the first Test. Even though Lal had performed reasonably well, he bore the brunt of the two close losses in the first Two tests and was omitted from the playing eleven for the remainder of the series.

He was recalled to the Indian squad for the series against England in 1981-82. With two 5-wicket hauls in the series, he once again became a regular in the Indian team. Madan Lal's greatest cricket moment was perhaps the 1983 World Cup final. Chasing a target of just 184, West Indies were 50/1 at one stage and it was Madan Lal's spell that tilted the game in India's favour. He dismissed Desmond Haynes, Vivian Richards and Larry Gomes in quick succession to put India in control.

He was dropped from the Test side after he couldn't pick a wicket in 8 Test innings in 1983 but continued to play ODIs for India. He only played two more Tests after that, with his last Test appearance coming against England at Headingley in 1986. He last played an ODI against Pakistan in March 1987.

Apart from his bowling, Lal from time to time provided the much-needed support in batting lower down the order. In one such case, along with Roger Binny, he added 155 runs for the seventh wicket against Pakistan in Bangalore in 1983. He made 74 in that innings and it was a very crucial knock considering that India were reeling at 85/6 when he walked out to bat. He made 5270 runs and took 351 wickets in a phenomenal Ranji career.

He also bowled the first ball in World Cup cricket when he bowled to Dennis Amiss of England in the first game of the 1975 World Cup. He served as the coach of the India A team before taking the senior team responsibilities in 1996/97. He was a member of the selection committee in 2000/01. He was also the coach of Delhi Giants (formerly Delhi Jets) in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League.

By Sidhant Maheshwari