5 Things about Indian cricket which people didn't know

3. Ranji Trophy Golden Jubilee Series

In the early decades of ODI cricket, the series and tournaments used to carry interesting names. Some of them used to have series titles named by sponsors while few others by occasions and existing situations. In 1984, Australia toured India to be part of a 5-match ODI series which was named as Ranji Trophy Golden Jubilee Series. The series was titled as part of celebrations of 50th anniversary of the Ranji Trophy. The 1983-84 season turned out to be the 50th edition of Ranji Trophy which was won by Bombay.

Captaincy of the Indian team was handed over to Sunil Gavaskar from Kapil Dev. Gavaskar, who usually opened the innings, batted in the middle-order during all the five ODIs which had unusual happenings. The first match of the series was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi which marked as the first day-night ODI match on Indian soil. Australia won the match by 48 runs and their lead of 1-0 was retained until 4th ODI as the following two matches of the series ended without a result.

The 2nd ODI hosted by Trivandrum had 44.4 overs of play before being called off. The 3rd ODI held in Jamshedpur began three hours late as the kits of players arrived late. The game was called off due to rain as only 5.1 overs were possible during the 24 overs per side match. The 4th and 5th matches of the series hosted by Ahmedabad and Indore were won by the Australians while chasing a target. Both the matches had delayed start and overs had to be deducted before the play began.

A couple of days after the ODI series, the Australians toured Bombay to face the home team and the defending Ranji champions in a 50-over match at the Wankhede Stadium. The match held List A status and just like the ODI series, this game was reduced to 47 overs-a-side before the play began. The Bombay team, also led by Gavaskar, couldn’t defend their moderate total of 190. A replica of Ranji Trophy was handed over to Australian skipper Kim Hughes for winning the match.