da esport bet： Eden Gardens was the venue where South Africa played their first one-dayer
Chandrahas Choudhury at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata28-Nov-2004
Those who watched South Africa’s first one-dayer, nearly 13 years back, remember it as an absorbing contest© Getty Images
When South Africa arrived in India with a squad in which seven players hadno experience of international cricket, there was concern about how suchan inexperienced side might react in pressure-cooker situations,particularly in the cauldron of humanity that the Eden Gardens can turninto on a good day. Think then of the emotions of the first South Africanteam to tour India, in November 1991, who arrived with only one player whoknew what international cricket was like – Kepler Wessels – and playedtheir first game in front of a 90,000 strong crowd at the Eden Gardens.Trevor Chesterfield, the veteran journalist, who came on that tour for the, recalls how overwhelming the whole experience was, not just for the players but for the entire South African contingent. “The tour wasorganised almost at the last minute,” he said. “I remember we landed inIndia on a Friday, and it had been decided we were coming only five daysbefore that, on the Sunday. There were still no airlines operating betweenSouth Africa and India, so we arrived on a chartered plane. It was thefirst South African plane ever to land in India – can you believe it?”We were, of course, indebted to the Indian board for welcoming us sowarmly and arranging for our visit at such short notice. But it was whenwe were taken to our hotel from the airport that we first began to feelthe enormity of the occasion. On our journey to the hotel we found theroads were lined by thousands of people welcoming us to India, carryingall kinds of signs and messages of goodwill for us. We were delighted tofind that our invitation to India seemed to have been issued not just bythe board, but by the people themselves.”For Colin Bryden, who came on that tour for South Africa’s ,it was the first chance to see India’s famed batsmen. “On Saturday, theday before the game, I walked around the ground watching the Indianplayers at nets. Before this Azharuddin, Tendulkar … these had been justnames for me. Now I saw with my own eyes the distinct way in which theyplayed, and in particular how skillful they were with their leg-sidestrokes.”
Allan Donald made an instant impact in his very first game© Getty Images
The game began at 9:00am on a smoggy Calcutta morning, but not before anunusual ceremony. The South African players did a lap of the ground tothank the crowd for their warm welcome. Then play started. Those who sawit remember that, although low-scoring, it was certainly absorbing. Theseare the things most people seem to remember: Andrew Hudson falling in thefirst over to Kapil Dev for a duck; Wessels emerging at No.3 and making agritty half-century; and some late fireworks from Adrian Kuiper, anotherplayer who had lost his best years in the game. And there is one thingthat nobody has forgotten: the hostility and searing pace of Allan Donald,who took three wickets in his first four overs, and 5 for 29 in all.”I don’t think the Indians had ever played anybody as quick as Donaldbefore,” says Chesterfield. “But Tendulkar played beautifully for ahalf-century, and later Pravin Amre made a very good fifty as well, andIndia eventually won. But the atmosphere was absolutely incredible. Youhad to be there and feel it to know what it was like. I remember Hudsontelling me later that he was overwhelmed by the occasion and by the atmosphere.What passion cricket aroused in this country! He said he gained a newsense of what cricket was all about and what it meant.”There were effectively two generations of South African cricketers playingthat game. Some, like Clive Rice and Jimmy Cook, were touching 40 and pasttheir best, and their selection was a small token of appreciation for allthe years of service they had put in without ever being able to play atthe highest level. In fact, as Bryden points out, Rice, then a promisingyoungster, was picked for the tour of Australia in 1971-72, the tour thatnever happened. Now, nearly two decades later, he was making his debut.And the future of South African cricket was also seen in the form ofDonald, who was to become one of the all-time greats.And now Donald’s years in the game are over, and a whole new generation ofSouth African cricketers are acquitting themselves honorably on theirfirst tour of India. As they carry on the baton of South African cricketthey, too, must often have been reminded that, in a sense, in all beganhere in 1991.