On June 25, 1932, at Lord’s, India took her first bold step in Test cricket, and made the small world of cricket sit up and take notice. Arunabha Sengupta revisits India’s first day in the international arena when CK Nayudu’s men actually had the better of the exchanges against a very strong English side.
June 25, 1932
On its first day in Test cricket, over 80 years ago, spirited yet limited in experience, the Indian team found themselves in the most famous cricket ground of all, facing an English side full of established stars.
Losing the toss, they were confronted by an opening pair who, just nine days earlier, had put on 555 for the first wicket. However, the Yorkshire duo of Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe had travelled all the way from Leeds the previous evening after finishing their match with Sussex, reaching London tired and weary late at night. Sutcliffe had scored 270 in the first innings, and co-passenger Bill Bowes, had bowled 27 gruelling overs on the previous day.
If the idea had been to travel down from important county matches and roll over a greenhorn nation from an exotic far away corner of the empire, such thoughts were scattered by a flurry of wickets in the initial 20 minutes.
Under glorious sunshine and 25,000 people, Mohammad Nissar and Amar Singh used the unfamiliar quick wicket to excellent effect, coming off the pitch at surprising pace, often bowling with three slips and three short legs.
Soon, with the score on eight, Sutcliffe played a vicious inswinging yorker from Nissar on to his leg stump. Three runs later, the bowler brought one back at lightning pace to send the off stump of Holmes in a spectacular cartwheel.
Next, the immensely experienced Frank Woolley, in at No 3, called for a second run after placing the ball wide of mid-on, and Lall Singh swooped down and sent the return on a long hop to wicket-keeper Janardan Navle to catch the Kent stalwart short by a yard. The home team was tottering at 19 for three.
The great Wally Hammond had made the longest journey on the previous evening, from Swansea, where an edge-of-the-seat thriller had been clinched by Glamorgan against Gloucestershire. Now, along with captain Douglas Jardine, he put his head down and started the process of shell-shocked rebuilding. Respite was not on offer. When Nissar and Amar Singh were rested, Jahangir Khan and captain CK Nayudu bowled with a lot of skill and nagging accuracy. The fielding was sharp as well, and run making difficult.
The 1932 Indian team that toured England to begin India’s journey in Test cricket (back row, from left): Lall Singh, Phiroze Palia, Jahangir Khan, Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh, Bahadur Kapadia, Shankarrao Godambe, Ghulam Mohammad, Janardan Navle. Seated (from left): Syed Wazir Ali, C.K.Nayudu, Maharaja of Porbandar (captain), KS Limbdi (vice-captain), Nazir Ali, Joginder Singh. Front row (from left): Naoomal Jaoomal, Sorabji Colah, Nariman Marshall.
Five wickets for Mohammad Nissar
The stand amounted to 82 before Hammond played on to a yorker from Amar Singh just after lunch, to make it 101 for four. Eddie Paynter, another supreme batsman in this star-studded English side, struggled with his timing, and scratched around for 14 before Nayudu trapped him leg before. Things would have been worse if wicketkeeper Les Ames, a very fine batsman in his own right, had been stumped before he had scored, but Navle muffed the chance off a widish delivery.
The Indian wicketkeeper redeemed himself to an extent when he brought off a smart catch off Nayudu to end the excellent fighting innings by Jardine. The English skipper had made 79 runs of sterling character in three hours and had taken the English score to 166. He would prove to be an even bigger thorn in India’s side in the second innings.
Les Ames had another stroke of luck when an edge off Amar Singh went between the keeper and the slip. Riding on these gifts of fortune, he stroked freely, adding 63 with leg-spinning all-rounder Walter Robins.
Nissar, untiring and quick, picked up the next three wickets. Robins edged to second slip, Freddie Brown was snatched up brilliantly by Amar Singh low down in the gully off a hard slash, and Ames was the fourth batsman to be bowled for 65.
The innings came to a close at 259 with Bowes skying Amar Singh to the outfield – the pacemanfinishing with figures of five for 93. It had indeed been a recovery from 19 for three, but few Englishmen would have bargained for the total when Jardine had called correctly in the morning.
The Indian reply that day was interrupted a couple of times by bad light. Bowes, still suffering the strain of the previous evening, sprayed it all over the place, and Bill Voce was played out confidently by openers Navle and Naoomal Jaoomal.
At the end of their first day in Test cricket, Indians stood at 30 without loss, a remarkably strong scoreline against the formidable English side – by any standards a glorious entry into the Test arena.
What happened next …
The honeymoon period lasted into the second afternoon. At one stage, with captain Nayudu and Wazir Ali at the crease, Indians were 110 for two, with the balance apparently on their side.
However, the lack of experience and depth were now exposed as the pace bowlers Bowes and Voce bowled a much improved line. The middle and late order collapsed and from 160 for four, India folded to 189 all out.
Amar Singh and Jahangir Khan quickly had the Englishmen struggling at 67 for four in their second essay, but Jardine got going for the second time and Paynter came good as well. Some fine hitting by Robbins and Brown took the score to 275 when Jardine closed the innings. This meant a target of 346 for the visitors, well beyond their limited batting ability.
Only Amar Singh, coming in at 108 for seven, sparkled for a while, hitting Robins for 19 in an over, including a six – adding 74 in 45 minutes with Lall Singh. His 51 took India to 187, the final margin of loss being a comprehensive 158 runs.
Yet, the performance was striking, and according to many the Indian bowling was just as good as the English, if not better. Sadly, it would be a long while before the future Indian teams would show even a fraction of the same mettle on the cricket field.