When Abid Ali and Jyothi Prasad made the ball talk

In a three-day Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal against Railways at Fateh Maidan (now LB Stadium) in January 1976, these two exceptional bowlers orchestrated one of the most remarkable comebacks in Ranji Trophy history.

Hyderabad: When fast bowling duo of Syed Abid Ali and P. Jyothi Prasad made the ball talk, literally! Well, this can be one of the glorious, untold stories of Hyderabad cricket history itself.

For, in a three-day Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal against Railways at Fateh Maidan (now LB Stadium), in January 1976, these two wonderful bowlers scripted what remains one of the most stunning comebacks in Ranji Trophy history itself.

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M.L. Jaisimha-led Hyderabad conceded a massive 229-run first innings lead and clearly a lot was at stake. “Well, we had the likes of ‘Tiger’ Pataudi, Abbas Ali Baig, Kenny Jayanthilal, V. Ramnarayan, Sultan Saleem, M.V. Narasimha Rao in the team. There was that steely determination not to lose the match at any cost,” recalls Jyothi Prasad in a chat with ‘Telangana Today’.

Then, that brilliant turn-around happened to the delight of the huge  crowd which was lustily cheering us everytime a Railways wicket fell.

Abid Ali (16.5-10-36-5), already an India star, and Jyothi Prasad (16-5-38-5), who also scored a brilliant unbeaten 80 in the second innings coming at No.10, bowled what was rated by ‘Tiger’ Pataudi as the best effort by two fast bowlers in an unchanged spell to wrap up the innings.

“That was the most unforgettable match in my life. It was a wet pitch because of excessive watering. In fact, Tiger wanted Jai to declare much before the lunch break to exploit the conditions but it was delayed,” Jyothi Prasad said.

“Thankfully, on the third day when Railways batted in the second essay, myself and Abid Ali were spot on. His advice, being senior to me, was just this – Dhandey pey dal, Idar, udar math daalna (bowl to the stumps and don’t err in line and length),” a smiling recalls Jyothi Prasad who was also in the national camp in the same season at Patiala but never really got his due for different reasons.

“Honestly, Pataudi was pleasantly shocked with our bowling and Jai expectedly delighted at pulling off what looked an impossible result at lunch on third and final day,” the fine fast bowler of yesteryears said.

“Yes, it is a pity that we couldn’t win the Ranji Trophy which had been one of Jai’s dreams as Hyderabad captain,” Jyothi Prasad said.

The scores: Hyderabad 50/8 decl in 21.2 overs (Mathur 7/12) & 376/8 decl in 105 overs (K. Jayanthilal 40, Vijay Paul 68, M.V. Narasimha Rao 42, Mumtaz Hussain 54, B. Jyoti Prasad 80 n.o.,Sardar Khan 3/129, Mushtaq Ali 4/83) bt Railways 279 in 93.3 overs (P. Hanraj 84, A.D. Solkar 33, S. Dhobi 92 n.o., Abid Ali 4/72, Jyoti Prasad 3/45) & 76 in 32.5 overs (Abid Ali 5/36, Jyoti Prasad 5/38).