‘We still talk about it’: Why an Australian victory in India can last forever

When Ian Redpath catches up with his old Australian teammates they still talk about it because even after more than a half a century, you never forget what it’s like to win in India.

Redpath was part of the Australian side who triumphed on the subcontinent in 1969-70, and Australia has only won one series on Indian soil in the years since.

Cricket was a different game then, but as Australia prepare to take on the Indians again, Redpath believes the current crop have as good a chance as any of ending the long drought.

“Some of my associates, we get together for lunch once a year, usually when Ian Chappell comes through, it’s about four or five of us and we still talk about that,” Redpath told ABC Sport.

“We went over there and thought ‘we can play the spinners, let’s not be dominated by them’ and most of the blokes – you don’t see it as much as you used to — but fellas used to use their feet a lot against spin.

“They’d get down the wicket for spin and, as Keith Stackpole used to say, give them something to think about.

“But the players today, they’ll handle it. We have a fabulous side at the moment and I think they’ll be pretty confident about it all. I think we’ll go OK.”

The 81-year old Redpath was one of the iconic Australian cricketers of the 1970s and was recently inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

He made his Test debut in 1964 against South Africa, scoring 97 as he opened the batting alongside Bill Lawry, but had to wait almost five years for his first Test century.

Redpath played some of his finest cricket in his final years in the Test side and retired after scoring 4737 runs at 43.45, with eight tonnes to his name from his 66 Test appearances.

“I was fortunate to be held onto. When we played in England they didn’t cover all the wickets – it was a different game then, there was no helmets.