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Indomitable

Vijay Hazare was the original wall.

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Indomitable
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January 26-28, 1948

No man ever stood up to Bradman's Invincibles the way Vijay Hazare didin India's fourth Test against Australia at Adelaide in January 1948. Australia won thetoss, batted first, and with the help of a Bradman double-century, made 674 India went outto bat facing a bowling line-up featuring Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Ian Johnson andErnie Toshack, and soon found themselves 69 for 3. Then, Vijay Hazare walked in.

Hazare was not a man who destroyed bowling attacks as much as he didthe will of bowlers. Diminutive in size but not in character, Hazare was a short man whostood tall when things got difficult. He had both the technique and the patience tostonewall for hours on end, and played cricket right out of the textbook, keeping out thegood balls, punishing the bad ones; first grinding, then punishing. He made a Test centuryagainst every country he played; but no attack was as tough as this, no situation sodemanding.

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Hazare batted through the third day of the Test, and into the fourth,making a defiant 116 out of a total of 381.Allrounder Dattu Phadkar partnered him much ofthe way, ending with 123; in the second innings, Hazare would walk alone.

India followed on, and Hazare settled down in the pavilion for awell-deserved break. Such optimism. India was soon O for 2, and Hazare was again in thethick of things. He dug in again, batted through the day again, and was on 102 at close-India was then 174 for 6. He came out on the fifth day and continued battling as wicketstumbled around him, and was eventually out for 145, with India making 277, and,expectedly, losing by an innings.

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The encomiums followed. Don Bradman called Hazare 'a great player',lauding his 'soundness' and 'the correctness of his stroke production'. Even AustralianPrime Minister Robert Menzies went into raptures over him. Interestingly, Hazare's stintat the crease began on what would later be India's Republic Day; truly, a day with much tocelebrate.

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