Tomorrow is 50 years for a low point in Indian cricket—demolished for their then-lowest score to lose the 1974 Lord’s Test to England, by an innings and 285 runs; off-field dramas leave bad taste
England wicketkeeper Alan Knott throws the ball in the air after catching Brijesh Patel for one run off Geoff Arnold at Lord’s as India collapse to their lowest-ever Test total of 42. Pic/Getty Images; (right) India skipper Ajit Wadekar looks back to discover his stumps have been shattered by England pacer Chris Old for three. Pic/midday archives
June 25 has gone down as an auspicious day in Indian cricket. Not only is it the day when Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup at Lord’s in 1983, but also when India began their Test cricket journey at the same venue in 1932.
However, what can one say of June 24? Flipping through pages of the past, this day has not been kind—at least where India in Test cricket goes. In 1967, on this day, at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, England piled up 386 after MAK Pataudi’s team were bowled out for 152. No. 4 batsman Tom Graveney scored 151 as a 40-year-old. Ken Barrington missed his three-figure score by three runs when BS Chandrasekhar disturbed his furniture, en route his 5-127, for which he was rewarded £100 as part of the Horlicks Awards. Budhi Kunderan got the same for his 47 out of 110, as India ended up losing by an innings and 124 runs.
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Seven years later, in 1974, India witnessed what was probably their lowest point in Test cricket, when they were dismissed for 42 on Day Four of the second Test at Lord’s. It was a shocker of a performance, after being asked to follow on. Ajit Wadekar’s Indians had responded to England’s first innings total of 629, by scoring 302. A good number of those runs—131—came from openers Sunil Gavaskar (49) and Farokh Engineer (86). Gundappa Vishwanath (52) and Eknath Solkar (43) were the other principal scorers.
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Day Four carnage
India ended Day Three with two for no loss, in their second innings on the Saturday. After Sunday’s rest day, Monday’s conditions were gloomy for Geoff Arnold (4-19) and Chris Old (5-21) to thrive. India were expected to struggle, but no one imagined that they would be finished for 42. Last man Chandrasekhar did not walk out to bat due to a hand injury, which restricted his bowling duties to less than 10 overs. Mike Hendrick, the third and last bowler used by Mike Denness, only bowled one over. India succumbed to their innings and 285-run loss in a matter of 77 minutes, in 17 overs.
The Sportsweek magazine issue which covered the Lord’s Test
Sportsweek magazine’s Managing Editor Khalid Ansari, who covered that Test, described India’s second innings show as, “gutless batting, lack of application and determination, unimaginative leadership, an abject surrender to the moving ball in conditions which favoured seam bowling, were above all responsible for India’s crushing defeat.” Solkar top-scored with an unbeaten 18, which included a six over fine leg off Old. The five runs which Gavaskar scored before he was trapped leg before by Arnold was the first of the second-highest score in the innings—Vishwanath and EAS Prasanna scored the same number of runs. Gavaskar put things in perspective in his autobiography, Sunny Days. “Lots of theories have been advanced about our being skittled out for a paltry 42 runs, when on that same wicket England made 629 and India 302 runs. The simple answer is that Arnold and Old bowled five good balls, which got our top five batsmen out. After that, there was no resistance from the tail-enders. We were skittled out before lunch, and champagne was flowing in the English dressing room to celebrate England’s victory in the series,” wrote Gavaskar. Crawford White, the respected English correspondent, reported that Wadekar ordered his team to hit the nets immediately after the Test. India went on to lose the third Test at Edgbaston, just like they did at Old Trafford and Lord’s, for a 0-3 whitewash.
Late for HC’s party
The Englishmen were obviously chuffed since they had finally beaten India after ending up on the losing side at home in 1971 and in India in 1972-73. The week starting June 24, 1974, was a horrid one for the tourists. The schedule of the Indian team after the Test included a party hosted by the Indian High Commissioner BK Nehru on Wednesday. However, they were late for the reception as they had to attend another party, following which they were caught in traffic. As per reports, the Commissioner’s party was from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm, and the team landed up at 7.15 pm. Nehru is reported to have asked his cricketer guests to leave, since they were late. After the team trooped out, they were convinced to return by the team manager Col Hemu Adhikari, since the Indian High Commissioner had conveyed his apology. The following day, the team learnt that their teammate Sudhir Naik was hauled up for shoplifting at a Marks & Spencer store on Oxford Street. Sportsweek reported: “Sudhir Naik was a victim of circumstances. He made a genuine mistake and had to pay for it. He selected various items for his relatives in Bombay and paid at the counter whatever was due. Unfortunately for him, some articles remained at the bottom of his carrier bag unnoticed. Still more so, he came out of the store, leaving behind two parcels and returned to pick them up. The floor detective, unaware that he had already paid for his purchases, took him to a private room and examined his belongings. ‘Oh Lord, I didn’t know I had these unpaid articles,’ said the late Naik, when he discovered that purchases worth one shilling, 20 pennies had not been paid for. Though Naik offered to pay, the detective was prompt enough to charge him with shoplifting.”
Fifty years on, India will hope that this June 24 will not throw up a bad result in tomorrow’s T20 World Cup game against Australia, like its 1974 ‘counterpart’ did.
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India’s lowest Test score—v Australia at Adelaide in 2020
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