The India national cricket team toured Pakistan during the 1978–79 cricket season. They played three Test matches against the Pakistan cricket team, with Pakistan winning the series 2–0. The tour also featured three One Day International (ODI) matches. In the third match, India's captain, Bishen Bedi, conceded the game in protest against Sarfraz Nawaz short-pitched bowling. It was the first time an international cricket match had ended in this way. India also played six tour matches, all of which were first-class fixtures.
Background This was going to be the first tour for either sides in 17 years. India were touring Pakistan only for the second time and first after 1954–55. India was set to tour Pakistan sometime in the mid-1960s, but wars between the two countries in 1965 and 1971, and political instability in both countries in the mid-1970s scrapped any possibility of an immediate future series. However, in early 1978, Board of Control for Cricket in India and Pakistan Cricket Board finally penned down the dates during which the tour would take place: from 27 September till 19 November 1978. Before the tour, 15 Tests were played between the teams, with India winning two, Pakistan one and the rest ending in draws.
Touring party Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad was named India's tour manager on 27 August 1978; P. R. Man Singh was named his deputy. Bishan Singh Bedi's retention as captain was announced on 30 August and the squad was named on 19 September, following a camp in Bangalore between 5 and 14 September of 25 probables. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was dropped from the squad, which included three uncapped players — Kapil Dev, Bharath Reddy and Yashpal Sharma. India went with the famed spin quartet comprising Bedi, B. S. Chandrasekhar, E. A. S. Prasanna and S. Venkataraghavan, who had by now 700 Test wickets between them. The party flew to Karachi on 24 September before the first match starting on 27 September.
The squad included: Bishan Singh Bedi (c) Sunil Gavaskar (vc) Mohinder Amarnath Surinder Amarnath B. S. Chandrasekhar Chetan Chauhan Kapil Dev Anshuman Gaekwad Karsan Ghavri Syed Kirmani E. A. S. Prasanna Bharath Reddy Yashpal Sharma Dilip Vengsarkar S. Venkataraghavan Gundappa Viswanath
Tour matches Three-day: Banks XI v Indians
Combined XI v Indians
Three-day: Patron's XI v Indians
Three-day: Combined Universities v Indians
Three-day: Punjab v Indians
Three-day: Sind v Indians
Test series First Test
Second Test
Third Test
ODI series
First ODI
Second ODI
3rd ODI
References
External links Tour page at Cricinfo Tour page at ESPNcricinfo archive