Gundappa Viswanath

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Gundappa Viswanath
Personal information
Full nameGundappa Ranganath Viswanath
Born (1949-02-12) 12 February 1949 (age 75)
Bhadravathi, Mysore State, India
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLegbreak
Relations
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 124)15 November 1969 v Australia
Last Test30 January 1983 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 10)3 April 1974 v England
Last ODI2 June 1982 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI
Matches 91 25
Runs scored 6,080 439
Batting average 41.93 19.95
100s/50s 14/35 0/2
Top score 222 75
Balls bowled 70
Wickets 1
Bowling average 46.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/11
Catches/stumpings 63/– 3/–
Source: CricInfo, 4 February 2006

Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath About this soundpronunciation  (born 12 February 1949) is a former Indian cricketer. Vishwanath was rated as one of India's finest batsmen throughout the 1970s. Viswanath played Test cricket for India from 1969 to 1983, making 91 appearances and scoring more than 6,000 runs. He also played in One Day Internationals from 1974 to 1982, including the World Cups of 1975 and 1979.

At state level, he played for Karnataka (formerly Mysore) throughout his career. Viswanath, popularly nicknamed "Vishy", had an elegant and wristy batting style which emphasized timing rather than power. Though he had a complete repertoire of shots around the wicket, Viswanath's choice shot was the square cut, one he often used to great effect against fast bowlers. He regularly fielded at slip.

He is the only cricketer to score a double century on debut in a first-class match and a century on debut in a Test match.[1]

Career and highlights[edit]

On his Test match debut, Viswanath scored a century against Australia at Kanpur in 1969 in a drawn match. He also recorded a duck in the same game, one of only four batsmen to have done this in their first match. Viswanath is one of three players to score a century in both his first class and Test debuts. He scored 13 more centuries in his Test career and none of them came in a match that was lost. He tended to produce his best performances on difficult pitches and a number of his best innings were not centuries, but were crucial to the team's cause.[2]

Against Australia and the West Indies, both known for their strong pace attacks, he had a batting average of over 50.[citation needed] He was at his peak in the mid-1970s. Against the West Indies at Madras in 1974–75 he scored 97 not out out of a total of 190 against a bowling attack containing Andy Roberts. Despite not being a century, it was regarded as one of the finest performances by an Indian[3] and it led to an Indian victory. The Wisden 100 ranked it the 38th best innings of all time, and the second best non-century.[4] He scored a match-winning century in the previous Test at Calcutta, but despite a 95 in the final Test at Bombay the series was lost 3–2.[citation needed]

Gundappa Viswanath's career performance graph.

In 1975–76, Viswanath again produced some strong performances against the West Indies, the most notable of which was his 112 at Port of Spain which helped India to reach the victory target of 403. At the time, this was the highest successful run-chase in Test cricket.[5] In 1978–79 at Madras he again top scored with 124 out of a total of 255. India went on to win the match which ultimately led to a 1–0 series victory in the 6-match series, although this West Indian side was considerably weaker than in previous series after many players opted to play in World Series Cricket instead.[citation needed]

In the 1982–83 season Test Series in Pakistan, Viswanath was part of the team which lost the series 3–0. Viswanath was one of the Indian batsmen who did not fare well mostly due to controversial decisions by the Pakistani umpires who were known to be biased towards their own bowlers. This kind of bias towards the home team finally lead to the introduction of neutral umpires in the year 2014.[6]

Captaincy[edit]

Viswanath also had a brief stint as the Indian captain in 1979–80. In the two Tests he captained, one was drawn and one was lost, the latter being the Golden Jubilee Test against England. In this match he recalled Bob Taylor to the crease after the umpire had already given him out. Taylor went on to score some vital runs for England helping them to win the match.

Post retirement[edit]

Viswanath retired from Tests in 1983, and later served as a match referee for the ICC from 1999 to 2004. He was also the Chairman of the national selection committee, and also served as the manager of the Indian cricket team. He is also involved in cricket coaching at NCA. He is married to Kavita, sister of Sunil Gavaskar and with their son Daivik reside in Bengaluru, India.

Recognition[edit]

Viswanath was awarded Col. C. K. Naidu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 by BCCI which is one of the highest awards given in Indian cricket. He also received the Arjuna award in the year 1977–78.[7]

References[edit]

  1. "Who scored a double-century on first-class debut and a hundred in his first Test?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. The genius and the great, Cricinfo.com. Accessed 15 August 2022.
  3. The 26th anniversary of an immortal innings, Cricinfo.com, 11 January 2001.
  4. Wisden 100 – Top 100 Batsmen, Rediff.com. Accessed 15 August 2022.
  5. Tests – Highest Fourth Innings Totals from Cricinfo.com
  6. "Neutral umpires and the declaration of independence in Test cricket | Mike Selvey". TheGuardian.com. 17 December 2014.
  7. "List of Indian cricketers winning Arjuna Award". 22 August 2016.

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Sunil Gavaskar
Indian National Test Cricket Captain
1979/80
Succeeded by
Sunil Gavaskar
Preceded by
Unknown
Chairman, Selection Committee
Unknown – September 1996
Succeeded by
Ramakant Desai

Template:India ODI Cricket Captains