Learning to crawl
Partab Ramchand on India's 1946 tour of England
Partab Ramchand
26-Jul-2007
Sir Pelham Warner's comment best summed up the Indian sojourn of England in 1946. "Their grace on the field was equaled by their manners of it." Viewed from any angle the quality of play they provided, the overall results, the gate receipts the 1946 tour was a whopping success, wiping off the memories of the unhappy tour 10 years before.
The Indian team itself was a fairly strong one. Adorning it were
players of the calibre of Vijay Merchant, Lala Amarnath, Mushtaq
Ali, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Rusi Modi and the captain - the
senior Nawab of Pataudi. The side was managed well by the genial
Pankaj Gupta, who was a welcome change after the autocratic
Brittain-Jones.
In such a congenial atmosphere, the Indians played up to
potential, and this was reflected in the results. Out of 29
first-class matches, the visitors won as many as 11, lost only
four and drew 14. Further, this was achieved in one of the
wettest English summers on record. If India lost the Test series,
they certainly were not disgraced. After all, the first Test was
won by England thanks largely to the batting of one man, the
second ended in a thrilling draw, and it was possible to argue
that India was in a stronger position in the rain-affected final
Test at the Oval, which was also left drawn.
The first post-war Test in England at Lord's was thankfully
played in bright sunshine and was watched by large crowds. India,
after being bowled out for 200, did well to get England at 70 for
four, all the wickets being taken by Amarnath. And what a prize
bag it was too Sir Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook, Denis Compton
and Wally Hammond!
Joe Hardstaff and wicket-keeper Paul Gibb (60) got the innings
back on track with a fifth-wicket stand of 182. Hardstaff hit 205
in 315 minutes with 16 fours. India, 228 runs in arrears, put up
a better display in the second innings, but they found Alec
Bedser, in his first Test, tough to handle. The tall Surrey swing
bowler had a match haul of 11 wickets as India were all out for
275, leaving England to get only 48 runs for victory. The home
team got these without losing a wicket.
In the second Test at Old Trafford, Mankad and Amarnath, taking
five wickets each, bowled out England for 294. Merchant (78) and
Mushtaq Ali (46) brought back memories of their famous stand at
the same ground 10 years before by putting on 124. Astonishingly,
however, India thereafter lost 10 wickets for 46. England
stretched their lead of 124 by declaring the second innings at
153 for five. India, set to make 278 runs in three hours, lost
wickets at regular intervals, and the last pair - Hindlekar and
Sohini - had to bat out the last 14 minutes to draw the match
with the score 152 for nine.
At the Oval, India, after a delayed start, led off with 331,
thanks in the main to Merchant's 128. England were 95 for three
when further rain stopped play. From England's point of view, the
main gain was Bedser, who in his first series took 24 wickets in
three Tests, a harbinger of many great deeds over the next
decade.
In keeping with their good showing in the Tests, the Indians'
record in the first-class games was admirable. None impressed
more than Merchant, who scored 2,385 runs at an average of 74.53
with seven hundreds. His batting was a veritable lesson in how to
bat in the generally difficult conditions encountered on the
tour.
Vijay Hazare was not very far behind. The two were already in the
midst of a run-getting rivalry in the Pentangular and Ranji
Trophy tournaments in India, and happily they carried this to
England too. A week after Merchant hit an unbeaten 242 against
Lancashire, Hazare scored 244 not out against Yorkshire. Hazare's
aggregate was 1,344 runs at an average of 49.77. Rusi Modi was
another to top the 1,000-run mark, finishing with 1,196 runs at
37.37.
But in a way, perhaps the biggest success of the tour was Mankad,
who had the rare distinction of completing the double the only
Indian to do so on a tour of England. In scoring 1,120 runs at an
average of 28.00 and taking 129 wickets at 20.76 apiece, Mankad
proved that he was among the leading players in the world.
Indeed, as a left-arm spinner, he had no equal. Amarnath, with
800 runs and 56 wickets, lived up to his reputation, while Hazare
did his bit with the ball too, finishing second in the averages
with 56 wickets.
In addition, the Indians performed feats that were either eyecatching or have stood the test of time. Against Sussex at Hove,
they hit up 533 for three declared on the first day with all four
batsmen Merchant, Mankad, Pataudi and Amarnath crossing the
three-figure mark. But it was the feat against Surrey that is the
most famous. The Indians, batting first on a Saturday, were 205
for nine. Last man Shute Banerjee joined number 10 Chandu
Sarwate, who had yet to score. The Surrey captain deferred the
tea interval in the hope of taking the last wicket quickly.
He had to wait till Monday morning.
With batting that was of the highest order, Banerjee and Sarwate
rewrote the record books. Against an attack that included Bedser
and Alf Gover, the two set up the highest last-wicket stand in
England and the second-highest 10th-wicket partnership of all
time, putting together 249 runs in 190 minutes. Moreover, it
remains unique in that it is the only time in first-class cricket
that numbers 10 and 11 have hit hundreds. While Banerjee got 121,
Sarwate remained unbeaten with 124.
Mushtaq Ali, who was a member of both the 1936 and 1946 teams,
maintains in his autobiography Cricket Delightful that,
man-to-man, the 1936 team was the stronger side. But many veteran
critics gave the palm to the 1946 side, and on results it is
difficult to argue with this view. Also, the popularity of the
side is best illustrated by the touching gesture of Leveson
Gower, the 73-year-old president of the Surrey Cricket Club, who
came all the way to the London docks to wish the team farewell.
He made it clear that he had come in his personal capacity
because he wanted to say goodbye to those who had given the
lovers of cricket such great joy. "They gave pleasure on and off
the field, and never has there been a more popular team," he said
echoing the view of many.