Gundappa Vishwanath broke a jinx with his century against England at Bombay in 1973? (2 December 2002)
When Gundappa Vishwanath made a sparkling 137 on debut against
Australia at Kanpur in 1969/70, he became the sixth Indian to
reach three figures in his first Test match. But a caveat came
with the feat; each of the five before him - Lala Amarnath,
Deepak Shodhan, AG Kripal Singh, Abbas Ali Baig and Hanumant
Singh - never made another century in their Test career.
And for some time, it looked as if Vishwanath would go the same
way too. Although the Karnataka batsman continued to be
consistent, making fifties in his stylish manner, he could just
not get to three figures. When England toured India in 1973,
therefore, Vishwanath had gone a full four years after that
initial knock, and he must have been hungry for another.
He had a good chance in the second innings at Kanpur - the scene
of his earlier triumph - but the match was drawn when Vishwanath
was unbeaten on 75 - his biggest score since his century. That
may have spurred him on, for in the very next game, at the
Brabourne Stadium, Vishwanath made his contribution to an already
strong top-order performance. After Farokh Engineer made 121,
Ajit Wadekar 87 and Salim Durrani 73, Vishwanath followed with a
scintillating 113, breaking the hoodoo of Indian batsmen making
centuries in their debut Test and never making another.
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