Umpire V Vikramraju, who died in Bengaluru on Sunday aged 92, will always be remembered for giving the fateful lbw decision against last man Maninder Singh that resulted in only the second tied Test match in history (Australia v West Indies at Brisbane, 1960 was the first) against Australia at the MA Chidambaram stadium in September 1986.
With captain Alan Border’s decision to declare on the overnight 170 for 5 with a substantial first innings lead of 177 runs, India were set 348 for victory on the final day in 90 overs in the opening Test of the three-Test series. India got off to a splendid start with veteran opener Sunil Gavaskar playing in his record 100th consecutive Test leading the way with 90. India were looking well placed when the fourth wicket fell, Mohammad Azharuddin for 42, with the total at 251. It was a race against the clock and with tension mounting, the players on both sides were going at each other.
The normally placid Chepauk crowd was also getting volatile—it had swelled to capacity as news spread across the city of India’s amazing race to victory. The sweltering heat and intense humidity inside the concrete cauldron in pre-Monsoon Chennai (then Madras) made things unbearable both on and off the field.
Pace bowler Chetan Sharma was out for 23 at 331 for 7 at which stage India needed just 17 runs for victory. Sharma was bowled by left-arm spinner Ray Bright who with off spinner Greg Matthews were bowling marathon spells. With Kiran More and Shivlal Yadav also falling to Bright, the pendulum had swung the other way. India needed four runs to win when Maninder joined Ravi Shastri who was anchoring the chase.
It was the final over of the match when Shastri took the call to go for a single on the third ball of Matthew’s over to level the scores. This ensured India could not lose but exposed the hapless tailender who dug out the fourth ball. It all ended in intense drama when he was struck on the pads on the fifth and penultimate ball and Vikramraju’s finger shot up to declare him out lbw with the scores tied.
Maninder and non-striker Shastri (48) were furious with the verdict, claiming the batsman had nicked the ball onto his pads. Sitting way up in the Chepauk press box a good 100 metres away and with the crowd roaring, it was impossible for us to tell. Maninder was shattered while a livid Shastri stormed into the umpires’ room to protest. But with the Decision Review System (DRS) more than 20 years away, the decision was final. Vikramraju always maintained his decision was correct; the two Indian batsmen thought otherwise.
For Vikramraju it was only his second Test. But although he stood in five ODIs, he never officiated in another Test match. The 40th anniversary of Tied Test II is just three months away.
