A book on Indian cricket ethos

Chennai: Pictures, they say, convey a thousand words. In sports historian and journalist Boria Majumdar’s new book Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians to be published this week, there are many such never before seen pictures, each of which tell a story. We reproduce one of them here with the story behind the picture.

India’s Test debut in 1932

India’s international debut at Lord’s on 25 June 1932 was in every way sensational. In front of a 24,000-strong crowd at cricket’s Mecca, India had England reduced to 19/3 in the first hour of play, thanks to some excellent bowling and fielding. It was a clear statement that the colony was here to compete. The performance, which came as a surprise to many, was a testimony to the progress of the game in India and was indicative of the future of cricket in the country.

Commenting on the start of the game the Birmingham Post wrote: ‘The All India cricket team has administered a few shocks to the dignity and confidence of England today. If there were among the 24,000 spectators at Lord’s some who imagined that the granting of a Test match by the MCC to the tourists from the Indian empire was merely an amiable concession, then they had a very rude awakening before the close of play . . .’

Though the English won convincingly in the end, the Indians had done enough to merit a return visit from the MCC a year later, the first official Test tour on Indian soil. If this was the state of affairs on the field, the turn of events backstage was no less fascinating. It was, quite simply, sensational stuff, packed with intrigue and rivalry, pride and guile, twists and turns, and a dramatic finale culminating in C.K. Nayudu going out to toss with Douglas Jardine at Lord’s.