'It was a pleasure': Mongia, star of first-ever BGT series

NEW DELHI: The year was 1996. Even though Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi, now called the Arun Jaitley Stadium, still referred to as 'Kotla' by the locals, had hosted 23 Tests, it wasn't a venue cricket enthusiasts had on their wishlists. Kotla was in urgent need of care despite being one of the venues of the ODI World Cup the same year. The players seeking a foray into international cricket or a farewell, didn't necessarily mind the setting.
That would have been the case for Australia's Brad Hogg and India's David Johnson in October, who made their debuts. Meanwhile, Peter McIntyre played his last for Australia.
India and Australia had played 12 series before this, starting in 1947/48, with the Aussies winning six and India just once - under the leadership of Sunil Gavaskar in 1979.
This series, helmed by Mark Taylor and Sachin Tendulkar, had a different look and feel. Instead of the multi-match format, it was going to be a one-off Test. The fewest matches in a series played between these two were three, while the most were five.

More importantly, the series had been branded as

Border-Gavaskar Trophy

named after legends from both countries - Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar. In so doing, it had joined the likes of Anthony De Mello Trophy (between India and England), Frank Worrell Trophy (between Australia and West Indies), Wisden Trophy (between England and West Indies), Trans-Tasman Trophy (between Australia and New Zealand) and of course the iconic Ashes (between Australia and England) to get a name attached to itself.

Fitting for the occasion, a gluttony of players were making their debut at First-Class level or featuring in a Test in India for the first time. Besides Johnson and Hogg, others that adorned this list included Ian Healy, Taylor, Mark Waugh, Paul Reiffel, Sourav Ganguly, Michael Slater, Glenn McGrath, Venkatesh Prasad, Michael Bevan, McIntyre, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Vikram Rathour and Sunil Joshi.
The one that stood out, though, was Nayan Mongia, playing his 14th Test for India. The wicketkeeper-batter had top-scored with 80 runs against West Indies by then. But he was more renowned for being a safe pair of hands behind the stumps. Having succeeded Kiran More,

Mongia

was believed to have entered a line of fine Indian wicketkeepers after Farokh Engineer and Syed Kirmani. He was steady with the gloves to both spin and pace.

As a batter, he was known for being a tough character when the challenge presented itself. Against Australia, he was presented with such a daunting aspect. Having otherwise been a middle-order batter, he was lately elevated to the opening slot.
"I was told well in advance that I'm going to open the innings. I knew how to play the new ball from junior cricket and Ranji Trophy so I had some idea. I was well prepared but not well prepared to get 100 or 150! But otherwise my job was to make sure the new ball gets old," recalled Mongia in an exclusive conversation with TimesofIndia.com.
"To get 100 as an opener, you know, in a Test match it's always a pleasure. And getting a Man of the Match as a wicketkeeper that time (was rare). In a Test match, even if you took five-six catches, you don't get Man of the Match unless you score 100 or match-winning 50 or match-winning innings. So 100 was a big thing... 150 in fact. It was a big hundred," added Mongia.
Mongia slogged it out for three days straight in the process. He started by keeping wickets as Australia batted first and scored 182 with Slater top-scoring as Anil Kumble took four wickets in the first innings, and collected nine wickets in total.

Then 26 years old, Mongia would bat on for over eight hours for his 366-ball 152. "Yeah, my fitness was always good. I used to do a lot of running, and do a lot of training. So that kept me going, from childhood - from under-15, under-19 age group I was doing a lot of training. (A) Keeper has to have good fitness - 90% (of the job) was doing keeping and then batting.
"At Under-19 and Ranji Trophy, I used to open or bat at No. 3, so for that I need to have good fitness. If you have good fitness then only you will be able to do more concentration. Running was the main thing. I used to run for half-an-hour or 40 minutes every day," said Mongia who would retire after 44 Tests, rather prematurely many feel.
Australia, still a key Test side back then, and a bigger player in money-churning quarters of cricket than India, chose to travel to the Asian sub-continent for just one contest as the series found a new name.

Now, the tables have shifted. India are the bigger beast at the ICC and in producing money in the sport. So, for the first time since the 1991-92 season, India and Australia will indulge in a five-match Test series starting November 22. The BGT will go around Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Did Mongia envision the series getting this big and becoming such a rivalry? "Not really because the main rivalry was India-Pakistan that time still. Australia (rivalry) was just growing up. Slowly West Indies cricket team went low. Pakistan had some internal problems," said the former stumper.

"Border-Gavaskar Trophy gave a platform to have such a huge rivalry. Both the teams are very highly competitive and (have) top-class players in both sides. It's great fun to play this kind of series. You try to give your best shot and you make (your) country proud. You make your name in cricket when you play against these two countries," he added.
With India going for three away Border-Gavaskar Trophy wins in a row, they do so on the back of a dreadful show with the bat against New Zealand which resulted in a 0-3 humbling at home.
"It is going to be 50-50 for me right now, looking at India's performance and Indian batsmen are struggling. Playing against Australia in Australia is not going to be easy. But we have top-class bowlers as well. We will miss Mohammed Shami, there is no doubt about it. But we have other good bowlers who can step up leading from the front. Mohammed Siraj is there. Other young bowlers are there. But if you want to win a Test match, you have to put runs on the board and the batsmen have to come good," he concluded.