When a ball from Lillee (“slow motions showed that he had a thick edge on to the bat,” Syed Kirmani said) took his edge and hit his pad. Rex Whitehead’s finger went up. To quote Chauhan, “(Dennis) Lillee went up to him and showed that the ball had hit the pad first and then the bat, which I thought was not right. (Sunil) Gavaskar was struggling for runs on that trip, and then he got a half century. He was getting a lot of stick on that tour and he wanted to get a big score. In that series, there was a big contest between him and Lillee.” Gavaskar decided to walk out, asking Chauhan to follow him. “You are the captain and whatever you say I am behind you,” said Chauhan. It took some coaxing from Kirmani to convince the team manager Wing Commander Shahid Durrani to step in (“I literally pushed him to do it”). Chauhan stayed, Dilip Vengsarkar joined him, and that was that.
India did not forfeit the Test. They won it. Years later, Gavaskar told in an interview with Sportstar: “I have to admit that it was an absolutely inexcusable behaviour on my part, for whatever the provocation, I should have kept my cool as I was the captain of the team.”
India did not forfeit the Test. They won it. Years later, Gavaskar told in an interview with Sportstar: “I have to admit that it was an absolutely inexcusable behaviour on my part, for whatever the provocation, I should have kept my cool as I was the captain of the team.”
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