The MCC tour of India in 1972/73 illustrates this. The Test series was absolutely absorbing, dominated to a large extent by the Indian spinners, who still held the English batsmen -- lacking Boycott, Edrich and Luckhurst for various reasons --- in thrall after their triumphs of 1971.
Despite this, England actually won the first Test at Delhi by 6 wickets. India, through brilliant bowling by Bedi and Chandrasekhar, won the second, at Calcutta, by 28 runs. At this stage in the series, Bedi's figures were 152-62-231-12, and Chandrasekhar's 121.1-44-256-18. India won again, at Madras, by 4 wickets.
England batted first. In each innings, the spinners were on after three overs, Bedi took 2 for 66 and 4 for 38 (in 43 overs), Chandrsekhar's 5 for 90 and 1 for 69 and Prasanna 2 for 57 and 4 for 16. In their second innings, England made 159 in 106 overs. The paralysis of English batsmanship appeared to be irremediable.
But in the fourth Test at Kanpur there was a change of tempo. John Woodcock in The Cricketer reported that Bob Cottam, Bedi's Northamptonshire colleague, reminded the MCC captain Tony Lewis that he had made runs for Glamorgan against Northants by using his feet to the spinner and that Bedi had not liked it.
Lewis promoted himself and scored the first century of the series. It would be an exaggeration to say that Bedi was collared -- he took 3 for 134 in 68 overs -- but for much of Lewis's innings he was bowling with five fielders in the deep rather than the usual clutch of predatory close fielders. That Test, and the fifth at Bombay, were drawn.
The long-term results of Lewis's innings could be seen when India next toured England, in 1975. A side that was not very different from that which had toured in 1971 and won the series with a brilliant victory at the The Oval suffered a three-nil drubbing.
Wisdencommented on the fact that the England top order were far more prepared to use their feet and attack the spinner than in previous encounters.
All the bowlers suffered, although Bedi emerged less battered than the others: in the second Test, at Lord's, when England made 629, he achieved the truly extraordinary figures of 6 for 226 in 64.2 overs. The 'Golden Age' of Indian cricket was over.
Also read: 'I saw God in Chandu'
Image: Bishen Singh Bedi and Abbas Ali Baig after Bedi won the toss and decided to bat in the three-day Abbas Ali Baig benefit match at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi, April 8, 1978. Photograph: Pana-India
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