India's first ever test win:
"Was a great day. To me personally it was very satisfying because at
the end of the test [I took] the last catch at long off."
[Video | Audio]
[5th Test: India v England at Madras]
How did the Indian team celebrate after it won its first match:
"Well..in those days as you can imagine we had to look at all sorts of
things like prohibition and everything else. So there was no champagne
breaking."
[Video | Audio]
The infamous 0/4 scoreline, problems with Trueman and other struggles
during the 1952 tour of England:
"We should always bare this in mind because in India by and large at
that time perhaps even today the wickets are slower. We never faced
anything like what we we faced in England."
[Video | Audio]
[1st Test: England v India at Leeds, 5-9 Jun 1952] [Fred Trueman] [India in England, 1952]
Being part of the Madras side that won its first ever Ranji Trophy:
"The Madras team on that occasion in that match...all [the players]
contributed and they all put things together and we just about managed
to win between tea time and close of play on the fifth day."
[Video | Audio]
[Ranji Final: Holkar v Madras]
How does Shane Warne compare with Richie Benaud?
"Benaud was certainly a cleverer bowler. He enticed you into getting
out. He gave you false hopes. He gave you false impressions."
[Video | Audio]
[
Richie Benaud |
Shane Warne
]
CD Gopinath rates his captains:
"I would certainly rate Lala Amarnath as a very clever captain... Lala
Amarnath... was trying all the time. He would attack all the
time... Frankly his knowledge of cricket was very, very good."
[Video | Audio]
[Lala Amarnath | Vinoo Mankad] [ Vijay Hazare | CK Nayudu]
Drama surrounding the appointment of the Indian captain during
the 2nd Test against WI in 1974/75:
"Sunil was going to take [Pataudi's place but at the last minute he]
cried off...I was not sure whether he had a injury or if he had an
illness. We had to virtually pick a captain the morning of the match."
[Video | Audio]
[
Tiger Pataudi |
Sunil Gavaskar | Venkataraghavan |
Engineer ]
[India v West Indies, 1974/75, 2nd Test]
On Sunil Gavaskar's famous 221 at the Oval in 1979:
"The whole test match was Sunil Gavaskar's. What an innings he played!
It was out of the world. Tremendous innings. All one could say was if
he had lasted another 10 minutes we would have won the match."
[Video | Audio]
[Sunil Gavaskar]
[
England v India, 1979, 4th Test
]
Gopinath on the current state of Indian cricket:
"All I can say is that today cricket is no longer a game...It is
almost like a...commercial business. We have not reached that
kind of professionalism."
[Video | Audio]
Can domestic cricket be made interesting?:
"I think our organizations [like our boards] should organize more
local cricket...The days have come when the people who run cricket
have to be professional. The days of honorary sectary, honorary
president, honorary treasurer are over."
[Video | Audio]
[
Alan Davidson
]
