India, Nov. 5 -- If India defended 143 by dismissing Australia for just 83 runs in the fourth innings of a Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, one would expect the result to be spoken about and remembered for generations to come. Well, that is exactly what happened at in 1981 when India won the second of a three-match Test series that was held along with the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup in Australia. And yet, the most talked-about aspect of that game was an incident that happened early on Day 4.

It was a rare thing, which is the reason why it has gone down in the folklore of the Test rivalry between the two nations. India captain Sunil Gavaskar threatened to walk off the field and pull his team out of the match altogether aft...