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India is hosting England for five test matches whose first test is on the action at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium Hyderabad. It is the 36th test series between these two teams in which India has won 11 of them. The India tour of England in 1932 was India’s first international tour and first-ever test match played after getting the test status in 1926.
We’ve witnessed many legendary players in this rivalry and many memorable wins also. One of the greatest players is Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi who is the only player who played from both these countries in the test, The first captain of the Indian cricket team CK Nayudu is also one of the greatest players in the history of Indian cricket. CK Nayudu plays an important in India getting its test status. In this article, we will revisit the moments of the first test series for India which surrounded these legendary cricketers and were memorable incidents.
Indian cricket before the test status
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Indis got their test status in 1932 but in 1911 an Indian team led by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh toured England’s Isles but only played with English County teams, not with England’s national team. India was introduced to cricket in the 18th century at the time of the invasion of Britishers in India, the first Cricket Club was formed in India by Parsis in 1848 which was the Orient Cricket Club. Parsis were the most famous community to play cricket in India which was also invited by Europeans, slowly other communities which were Hindus, Sinks, and Muslims also found this game entertaining and then there was a quadrangular tournament that used to happen every year with Europeans till 1912. Before India got the test status, two great Indian players RanjitSinji(1896-1902) and Duleepsinhji(1929-1931) who played for the English team and later the two biggest domestic Indian tournaments(Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy) were named after them.
How did India get the test status?
In 1926 Marylebone Cricket Club team led by Arthur Gilligan visited India and played approximately 26 first-class matches and one of those games was played in Bombay Gymkhana between Hindus and MCC. Indians played very well on that tour but on the first December the Hindu batter CK Naidu made a score of 153 by hitting 11 long sixes, the match resulted in a draw but English Captain Aurther Gilligan was so impressed that he talked about the future of Indian cricket with the Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh who was the main doer of Indian cricket at that time and he also suggested ICC to provide test Status for India. After two years of being a full member of ICC on 1st December 1928, the BCCI was formed in Madras which is now called Chennai. England invited the Indian team in 1932 to play their first test as a test member on English soil which was also recorded as the first tour of the pre-independent Indian team.
First Indian squad and captain
Before going to England the first and biggest question was who would lead the Indian team on that tour. Players and management wanted a king or prince should be the skipper of the first Indian test team so the names that were the strong contenders in the leadership were Nawab of Pataudi Sr., Duleepsinhji, Maharaja of Patiala, and Maharaja of Vijayanagara. After a long discussion, the Maharaja of Porbandar Natwarsinhji was assigned as a leader of the Indian cricket team on the tour of England but sooner he realized that he wasn’t able to handle the responsibility of this team at such a big stage he decided not play the match just one day before the historical game at lords and then he appointed Col. CK Nayudu as the captain Indians. CK Nayudu wasn’t any king or prince of a dynasty and many Indian players who belonged to the royal families felt ashamed that a normal citizen was going to lead them and they were not happy with this decision so tried to complain about this incident to Maharaja of Patiala. Maharaja of Patiala was aware of how a big game was going to be played on that ground so he strictly told them that only CK would lead the team and whoever resisted this decision would never be able to play for India in the future. Players followed the words of Maharaja and then Col. CK Nayudu became the first Indian captain. Along with the skipper CK Nayudu, other Indian players were Janardan Navle, Naoomal Jeoomal, Syed Wazir Ali, Sorabji Colah, Nazir Ali, Phiroze Palia, Lall Singh, Jahangir Khan, Amar Singh and Mohammad Nissar. The team was going to be called All India.
India tour of England 1932
In that tour, India played 37 matches between 29 April to 10 September including one official test match at Lords on 25th June. India has won the nine first-class games in that tour but the match for which India came for has lost it. On that historical day of 25th June English captain won the toss and decided to bat. Indian bowlers surprisingly gave three initial blows to the English batters at just 19 runs which led them to sum up at 259 on the first day and India started their inning. India was only able to score 189 runs on the second day and skipper CK Nayudu(40) was the highest scorer. England scored 275 runs in the second inning and India got the target of 346 runs to win the match but just two days old Indian team couldn’t fight with the father of the game and lost the match by 158 runs.
It was the first test match as well as the first tour of the Indian cricket team in international cricket but it took almost 30 years for the Asians to win the first test match against England and 30 years to win a series. Today India is a much stronger team than England but it took many struggles, stories, and contributions of players like CK Nayudu to reach where we are today.
Also Read: History of Cricket: The first Test match played in the history of Cricket
