500 not out...!

Early daysn When India travelled to England for the first official tour in 1932, the CK Nayudu-led side wasn’t expected to do much. The 158-run defeat on the third day does suggest India caved in meekly. But every recorded account of the match, India’s first ever Test, talks about tourists’ potential to emerge as a major force in time to come. 

The bowling exploits of pacers Mohammad Nissar and Amar Singh were particularly impressive not just in the lone Test but during the tour against various counties -- Amar Singh claimed 111 wickets at an average of 20.78 while Nissar bagged 71 at 18.09.  

The result of India’s show prompted the MCC to grant a full tour (three-Test series) by the India-born Douglas Jardine-led English side. The visitors expectedly won the series (2-1) but Amar Singh once again stole the show while Lala Amarnath became the first Indian batsman to score a Test hundred.

n First win
Despite showing early promise, it wasn’t until 1952 that India managed their first Test win; 20 years after they had received the Test status.  Vinoo Mankad was India’s hero as his 12-wicket haul for the match (8/55 and 4/53) helped India register an innings and eight-run win over England and level the five-match series in Chennai (then Madras). Pankaj Roy (111) and Polly Umrigar (130) too played their part with a century each.

n First series win
Mankad wasn’t only the hero of India’s first win but he was also the main architect of India’s first series win and that too against arch-rivals Pakistan at home. The left-arm spinning all-rounder claimed 25 wickets and scored 129 runs (third highest by an Indian batsman in the series) as India beat Pakistan 2-1 in the five-Test series in 1952-53. 

Mankad’s influence on India’s fortunes extended till the middle of 50s. Mankad topped the run charts with 526 runs against the touring New Zealand in 1955-56 as India completed a 2-0 win in the five-Test series. Mankad also claimed 12 wickets with leg-spinner Subhash Gupte causing most of the damage with 35 scalps.

n The Pataudi era
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who led India from 1961 to 1970 in his first stint, is considered as someone who led the Renaissance of Indian cricket. In 40 Tests that he captained, India may have won only six  but his influence far transcended the mere statistics. Arguably the best Indian captain, Tiger Pataudi is credited with demolishing the wall between players and inspiring them to play as a team. He was not only the first captain to understand the importance of fielding but also maximised the Indian strength – spin bowling. It was under Pataudi that the famed spin quartet of Bishan Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar, EAS Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan bloomed and India started to see victories more frequently, including the first overseas series win in 1967-68 against New Zealand.

n The rise of Gavaskar
Pataudi was dropped as captain for India’s tour of West Indies in 1971 when a certain Sunil Gavaskar made a sensational debut. While Pataudi skipped the tour citing personal reasons, India under Ajit Wadekar, scripted history by winning their first ever Test against the Caribbeans. The win, which was also the debut Test for Gavaskar, also ensured the series win for India. While Venkataraghavan, Bedi, Prasanna and Abid Ali shone with the ball, Dilip Sardesai struck a century. Gavaskar made 65 and 67 n.o. as India coasted to a memorable seven-wicket victory. Gavaskar, barely 21, announced his arrival with a record tally of 771 runs, still the highest in a series by a debutant, in four Tests. 

For the next one and a half decade, Gavaskar remained the most prolific of Indian batsmen, becoming the first in the world to break the 10000-run barrier in Tests and go past the Don Bradman’s 29-Test-hundreds record. Short in stature but tall in deeds, Gavaskar earned respect for Indian cricket and helped Indian cricketers rid themselves of their inferiority complex. 

Gavaskar’s era also overlapped with that of the spin quartet for close to a decade. With a certain GR Viswanath, matching Gavaskar shoulder to shoulder, literally and figuratively, it was truly sunny days for Indian cricket.

The victory in West Indies was followed by a first series triumph in England the same year. After drawing the first two Tests, India eked out a four-wicket win in a low-scoring affair at the Oval to seal the series.  Spinners -- Chandrashekhar, Venkataraghavan and Bedi – played an important role, sharing 36 wickets between them in the series.

n The arrival of Kapil Dev
India’s greatest all-rounder and one of the finest in the world, Kapil Dev arrived at the scene when the spin quartet was on the wane. The strapping lad from Haryana was the first pace-bowling superstar from India and arrived as a breath of fresh air for a country which until then had relied on spin to deliver goods for them. For the next one and a half decade, he was an integral part of Indian cricket and along with Imran Khan, Sir Ian Botham and Sir Richard Hadlee, he was one of the leading all-rounders in the world of his time. A great exponent of swing bowling and a maverick batsman, Kapil soon fired the imagination of the country like, perhaps, only Gavaskar did. The legendary feud between the two iconic players is attributed to Kapil’s rise in popularity. Kapil, who held the record for highest Test wickets (434) at one stage, provided a new direction to Indian cricket with his carefree game. He led India to many a victory, particularly memorable is the one against England in 1986 when India won for the first time at Lord’s before wrapping the series at Leeds with a match to spare in the series.

n Azhar-Wadekar formula
India’s exit from the 1987 World Cup after the semifinal loss to England cost Kapil his captaincy. After a failed experiment with K Srikkanth at the helm in Pakistan in 1989, Mohammad Azharuddin was elevated to the position of captain, and along with manager Ajit Wadekar, the stylish batsman from Hyderabad developed India into a formidable force on the turning tracks at home during the 90s. Anil Kumble, who went on to become India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests, emerged his trump card as India spun (pun intended) series win after series. Azharuddin remained the most successful Indian Test captain before Sourav Ganguly and later MS Dhoni overtook him.

n Tendulkar phenomenon
The legend of Sachin Tendulkar was growing simultaneously. His boyish looks and giant feats endeared him to the nation. Not since the rise of Kapil Dev in 1978 had an Indian cricketer fired the imagination of the country like Tendulkar had. His two captaincy stints were largely forgettable for various reasons but it was as a batsman that the little man from Mumbai took the game to unprecedented levels. While his performances in ODIs are unmatched, his Test performances have only helped raise the profile of the longer format. 200 Tests, 15921 runs, 51 hundreds are just three of his feats in a glittering two-decade career that coincided with the rise of India as the economic super power of the game. He was the undisputed leader of a batting group that is rightly regarded as the “golden generation” that included Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.  Ganguly took over captaincy when India was going through a turbulent time, having hit by the match-fixing scandal in 2000. It was up to Ganguly and his men to lift the game in the country out of its morass and they did so splendidly. The epic come-from-behind win over Steve Waugh’s “invincibles” in 2001 set the tone for India’s decade. Laxman’s epic 281 in Kolkata changed the course of Indian cricket through the 2000s. It was also during this time that India shed their image as tigers only at home. Test win in Australia (2003) and first ever series win in Pakistan (2004), when Dravid emerged out of the shadows of Tendulkar, and series wins in the West Indies (2006) and England (2007) enhanced India’s standing.

The consistent performances both at home and abroad helped India finish as the No 1-ranked team, the first and only time, in 2009. MS Dhoni, who retired from Tests in 2015, was the captain whose tenure also saw some depressingly lows. It was under Dhoni that India suffered back-to-back whitewashes in England (2011) and Australia (2011-12) and lost a home Test series to the men from the Old Blighty.      

India’s Test fortunes are on the upswing again under Virat Kohli who has conjured up three successive series wins (against South Africa at home and away wins over Sri Lanka and West Indies). Much is expected from this young bunch as India embarks upon a long Test season at home with head coach Kumble guiding the team.