England captain Ben Stokes, seeing the fourth Test at Manchester heading to a sure draw, decided to extend an invitation to draw the match to give his bowlers some added rest.

India had Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar on strike, both inching closer to their individual centuries. The Indian management decided to hold off on accepting the draw to allow the duo to register their hundreds, which sparked a wave of displeasure and chatter from the England players.

The incident has sparked off a raging ‘spirit of cricket’ debate.

As history shows, this wasn’t the first time a game headed for a draw featured a player eyeing a milestone and an unhappy opponent as a consequence. In 1983, during the first Test between India and Pakistan in Bangalore, skipper Zaheer Abbas walked off with his players after the scheduled end of overs when 20 overs of play were still left. Here’s the full story as published that year:

High drama marks Gavaskar’s 28th Test century

Sunil Gavaskar’s 28th century in Test cricket came in controversial circumstances. What transpired on the final day of an otherwise inconsequential and indecisive Test was not quite cricket. Especially the fact that the Pakistanis walked off the field, refusing to continue beyond the scheduled close, though a fair bit of the 20 mandatory overs remained.

There were endless arguments about the interpretation of the rule governing the final hour of the match. After an inordinate delay, the visitors did take the field since there were no provisions in the “playing conditions’ of the tour to prevent the umpires from interpreting the letter of the law as they did and insisting on play continuing in the absence of a mutual agreement on cessation.

“A century is a century” – that is Gavaskar’s philosophy. His acquisitive instincts were well served by the umpire’s ruling, and having insisted on the right to play on and stayed put in the middle with Aunshuman Gaekwad when the Pakistanis walked off, he did not slip up en route his 100.

He now needs only one more Test century to equal Don Bradman’s world record tally of 29

After 23 minutes of waiting, Pakistan took to the field again. Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary C. Nagaraj requested the side to help prevent ‘a law and order situation.’ The crowd in Bengaluru was already on edge after an early finish on the first day despite bright sunshine due to poor outfield conditions. Chairs were smashed and waste and debris was thrown onto the ground. Captains of both teams had to emerge to plead for calm.

All’s well that ends well

The curtain came down on the Test, 46 minutes beyond the scheduled hour of 4p.m.. giving way to the feeling that all is well that ends well.

Had there been an appeal for awarding the match when the visitors kept away for 27 minutes, the umpires would have had no choice but to go by the rule book and the ramifications could well be imagined. Still, there is no escaping the conclusion that there was no justification tor a walkout as staged by Pakistan led by Zaheer Abbas

Zaheer Abbas’ arguments were based on his county experience as well as the special regulations relating to Tests in most other countries by which play can be called off (by mutual consent between the captains only) after 10 overs in the last hour if there is no possibility of there being a result.

It may be recalled that Mohinder Amamath and Kapil Dev completed their centuries in Pakistan and in the West Indies after insisting that play be carried on However, the circumstances were different then in the sense that time remained before the scheduled close.

Gavaskar’s innings itself was a mixture of orthodox batting and innovative strokes, in One-Day cricket fashion, to beat the elaborate run-denying fields set by Pakistan.

There were moments, particularly early, when he succumbed to flashing outside the off-stump for the drives. He played and missed sometimes but the strokes he did bring off for boundary hits were well struck

The tempo of the innings dropped off somewhat and at that point it was assumed that the match would peter out to a tame draw along the pattern already well set in four days of rain-interrupted play

It was a fruitless exercise for the Pakistan bowlers on the final day. which ironically was free of interference from the weather.

The century stand was posted in 44 overs and the Test roared to belated life with Gavaskar looking for the century and thus introducing an element of competitiveness into what would otherwise have been generally meaningless play.

Gavaskar pulled a short ball from Nazir. who was trying his best to bowl to a negative 7-2 field, through midwicket and played the off glide against Naqqash to get to 86 when the match descended from the sublime to the ridiculous with Pakistan walking out instead of settling the problem through discussions on the field.

Without abandoning safety, Gavaskar could still work his runs within the deadline of six overs, pulling Zaheer to square leg to retain the strike for the last over

Gavaskar and Gaekwad waiting for play to resume after their opponents, Pakistan, walking off the pitch en mass.
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SPORTSTAR ARCHIVES

The statistics of Gavaskar’s innings further point to the quickness with which he seized on the chance of making a hundred. The first 50 came off 128 balls with five 4s and the second 50 off 57 balls with five 4s.

Mudassar was Pakistan’s last gamble. He removed the foam protector from his bruised index finger and rapped Gavaskar on the pad with a sharp incutter. However, he could not deny Gavaskar’s determination and ability to concentrate beyond the interruptions.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Mr. M G. Ramachandran. has. in a telegram, congratulated Gavaskar on scoring his 28th Test century.

This story first featured in The Hindu on September 20, 1983.