India vs England Test Flashback: How Kapil Dev's fearless approach helped India avoid the follow-on

India’s tour of England in 1990 started on a great note as they won the 2-match ODI series and produced some good performances in first-class tour matches. However, the Test series didn’t start on the expected lines as the Indian bowlers toiled on the first two days of the Lord’s Test. The England captain Graham Gooch batted more than 10 hours scoring a superlative 333-run knock. Gooch made Indians pay for not producing enough chances to dismiss him after dropping his catch early on.

Kiran More was the culprit as he spilt a straightforward chance behind the stumps off Sanjeev Sharma when Gooch was batting on 36. The English skipper went to add 297 more runs after this drop as he finished with 333 in 485 balls hitting 43 fours and three sixes. Allan Lamb (139) and Robin Smith (100*) too scored centuries as the hosts posted a mammoth total of 653/4 in their first innings declaring soon after Smith brought up his century.

India did a decent job with the bat in response as Ravi Shastri and the skipper Mohammad Azharuddin scored tons. Azhar scored 111-ball 121 with 22 boundaries before his dismissal gave England a chance to aim at an innings win. Angus Fraser dismissed More and Sanjeev in space of three deliveries to reduce India to 430/9. Narendra Hirwani played out the last ball of the over to bring Kapil Dev on to strike against Eddie Hemmings.

Kapil Dev already scored 53 off 69 balls and played out the first two balls of the off spinner’s over. The all-rounder launched the 3rd ball for a big hit over long-on to bring down the follow-on equation to 18 runs. The next two balls from Hemmings got the same treatment as Kapil Dev made the long-on fielder watch the ball sail over his head. Gooch brought the fielders closer expecting the former Indian skipper to retain the strike with a single.

But Kapil decided to help India to avoid the follow with the biggest of the four sixes in the same direction. Thus, Kapil Dev became the first player in Test cricket to hit four sixes with four consecutive deliveries. Shahid Afridi against Harbhajan Singh in 2006 and AB de Villiers against Andrew McDonald in 2009 are the other players in Test cricket who hit four sixes in four balls. Fraser trapped Hirwani in front on the very first ball of the next over as India were bowled out 454 in their first innings.

Gooch followed up his triple ton with a 123 in the 2nd innings as England declared on 272/4 to set 472-run target for India. The visiting side were nowhere close to their first innings heroics as they were bowled out for only 224 battling 62 overs. The result of this game turned out to be crucial in deciding the series winner as the next two Test matches of the series ending in a draw despite India’s strong performances.