History of Indian cricket - 1930s
“There has never been such a team of contrast meeting on the common footing of cricket. The 18 players speak 8 to 10 languages among them; they belong to 4 or 5 different castes; some may not eat this and some may not eat that; a few are denied smoking by their religious laws…. But these things are all forgotten for the present in the quest for cricketing success”. This was one of the famous quotes said for the Indian team at Victoria in 1932.
India’s Debut Test - 1932
India played their first Test match against England in1932 and astounded the Englishmen beyond imagination. In the fabulous debut at Lord’s, the English were reduced to 19 for 3 in the first half hour. England, batting first, scored 259. Mohammad Nissar took 5-93 in the first innings.
The Indian team were unsuccessful in sustaining the pressure and were all out for 189 with CK Nayudu top scoring with 40 runs in the first innings. The Englishmen set the Indians a target of 346 in the second innings, which the Indians failed to chase. They lost by a heavy margin of 158 runs. Ladhabhai Nakum Amar Singh took four wickets and hit an attacking 51, coming in at No 9 in the match. His half-century came in the second innings. The match was classified as a Test match though it was only three days long.
The first Test saw great drama just before the event commenced. Indian team members, in the middle of the night, announced their refusal to paly under a commener- C K Nayudu. It was only after intervention from the Maharaja of Pataila that the team decided to accept him.
MCC’s tour of India- 1933-34
Good performances by the Indians in the 1932 tour of England prompted the MCC to send a team to India in 1933.
The first official match in India was at Bombay. The English won the first match by 9 wickets. The Indians scored 219 in the first innings to which the English replied with a massive score of 438 runs. Indians came up with a respectable 258 in their second innings thanks to 118 by Lala Amarnath.
Amarnath convincingly stole the show with 21 boundaries to his name. He cut, pulled and drove with sublime precision. However, with only 40 to get in the fourth innings, the English won the first Test without much ado.
The second match at Calcutta ended in a draw, however the much-anticipated third match at Madras turned out to be pure humiliation for the Indians as they lost to England by a whopping margin of 202 runs. Being set a target of 452 runs in the final innings, the Indians were bowled out with only 249 on the board. The Indians lost the three match series 0-2.
India in England -1936
In 1936, India toured England again. In the first match that was held at Lord’s, the Indians scored 147 in the first innings and in reply, the English were bowled out for 134 in their first innings. The match was even-stevens but the Indians were bowled out for 93 in their second innings. With a target of only 107 runs, the English marched to victory with 9 wickets in hand.
The second Test in Manchester ended in a draw. Indians started the second Test at Old Trafford with a total of 203 in the first innings to which the English replied with a massive 571. The opening pair of Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali went on to make a record opening partnership of 200 in the second innings taking the Indian total to 390.
Mushtaq Ali set Old Trafford on fire with a blistering 112 to his name, which took two hours and forty minutes and included 17 boundaries. He became the first Indian to score a century overseas.
Vijay Merchant missed out to Ali by a whisker, scoring 114 as both of them put on 203 for the first wicket.
It was said that Mushtaq Ali’s stint at the crease was “touched with genius, imagination, there was suppleness and a loose, easy grace, which concealed power as the feline silkiness conceals the strength of some jungle beauty of gleaming eyes and sharp fangs….”
The third Test sealed India’s series loss with a 9-wicket defeat against the English at Kennington Oval, London. After setting a meager 64 run target in the final innings for the home team, the Indians lost the game in just 13 overs.
The 1936 tour, which India lost 0-2, was stained by one of India’s biggest cricket controversies when star performer Amarnath was sent back on the eve of the first Test match at Lord’s on charge on indiscipline by Vizzy, the captain, and Britton Jones, the manager.
His services were sorely missed by the team during the Test as he was at the peak of his form. He was eventually let off and went on to lead the team to its first series win against Pakistan in 1951-52.
Vijay Merchant topped the batting for India with 1745 runs at an average of 51.32
