A very special golden jubilee

An Indian victory in a Test or a one-day international these days may not be exactly run-of-the-mill, but it does occur now and then. Some major victories are celebrated in right royal style, while others go by barely noticed. With the passing of time, the memories of many of these wins are dimmed. However, the historic victories are remembered fondly, and cricket fans can recall many small details ­ statistical and otherwise ­ of the match. Triumphs such as the first ever Test victory, the first rubber victory over England, the first victory over Australia or the West Indies, the historic triumph in England in 1971 and, when it comes to limited-overs cricket, the World Cup victory in 1983 ­ these cannot be erased from memory even with the march of time.

The highlight of the first day's play was the stirring duel between Vinoo Mankad and Tom Graveney. Every time Mankad flighted the ball, Graveney would go forward to meet it in an effort to drive. Repeatedly, however, he found that the ball had dipped and he just had to play it back along the ground.

These thoughts come to mind on what is undoubtedly a very special occasion ­ the 50th anniversary of India's first ever Test victory. It was achieved on February 10 1952, the opponents were England, and the venue was Chepauk, Madras. At the time, it had been almost 20 years since India played her first Test at Lord's in June 1932, and since then, the country had played 24 Tests, lost 12 and drawn 12.

It did seem, then, that India's best chance of a victory was against the England team that visited these shores in 1951-52. In the absence of Len Hutton, Peter May, Jim Laker, Denis Compton, Alec Bedser and Godfrey Evans, it was a pretty mediocre side that came over. But by the time the teams reached Madras for the final Test, England were 1-0 up, with three Tests being drawn.

The selectors, in a mood for drastic changes, dropped Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar, CS Nayudu, Nana Joshi and Sadashiv Shinde. In came Mushtaq Ali, Lala Amarnath, CD Gopinath, RV Divecha and P Sen. But on the eve of the game, there was a significant change in the announced playing eleven. A couple of days before the Test, Hemu Adhikari was walking on a wet pavement in Bombay when he slipped and fell. A broken wrist ruled the experienced middle-order batsman out of the Test. Polly Umrigar, named 12th man in the original squad, found a place in the eleven at the last moment.

The highlight of the first day's play was the stirring duel between Vinoo Mankad and Tom Graveney. Every time Mankad flighted the ball, Graveney would go forward to meet it in an effort to drive. Repeatedly, however, he found that the ball had dipped and he just had to play it back along the ground. Mankad was bowling magnificently, but Graveney with his twinkling footwork was a worthy opponent.

Ultimately however, Mankad's experience overcame Graveney's youth He tossed one up, and Graveney saw an opening. He judged that even if the ball dipped, he would be there to take it on the half-volley and unleash his pet cover drive. He came forward to meet the ball, which however remained teasingly out of his reach. It pitched just out his desperate lunge and broke away to the off. Sen grabbed the ball and, in one quick movement, whipped off the bails. One of the finest duels in Indian cricket came to an end with the bowler - aided by alert wicket-keeping ­ winning it.

England reached 224 for five at the close of play, but Mankad brought the innings to a swift end on the second day, February 8. The rest day had been advanced to February 7 when it was announced that King George VI had passed away. The teams observed two minutes silence before play started and wore black arm-bands for the rest of the match. Mankad finished with excellent figures of 38.5-15-55-8, the best in an innings by an Indian bowler till that time, and England were dismissed for 266. His effort had given India the opening to force a win.

The match now hung on the performance of the Indian batsmen, and they did not disappoint. For the better part of two days, they scored runs at a handsome rate. Mushtaq Ali, playing in what proved to be his last Test, and Pankaj Roy laid the foundation with a first wicket partnership of 53. After Mushtaq's departure for 22, Roy, playing in his first series, and skipper Vijay Hazare (20) added 44 runs. Mankad then joined Roy and the two put on 60 runs for the third wicket before the all-rounder left for 22. Joined by a fourth veteran in Amarnath, Roy proceeded to his second hundred of the series, and when he was fourth out at 191, he had made 111. Amarnath and Dattu Phadkar saw India through to the close of play with the score at 206 for four.

The sun was out and the ground was packed to capacity on the Saturday, February 9. Amarnath (31) left at 216, and the match had reached a vital point. To overcome the disadvantage of batting last on this wicket, India had to get a lead of at least 100 runs. That seemed a long way off at this point with Umrigar, sadly out of touch, joining Phadkar, India still 50 runs behind. But the pair gradually got on top of the bowling and added 104 runs for the sixth wicket before Phadkar was out for 61.

Joined by local youngster Gopinath, Umrigar now turned on the heat and took heavy toll of spinners Malcolm Hilton and Roy Tattersall. Gopinath helped Umrigar add 93 runs for the seventh wicket before he was out for an elegant 35, of which 28 came in boundaries. Umrigar continued batting with gay abandon, reaching his first Test century in the process. When Hazare declared the innings closed at 457 for nine late on the third day, the sturdily built Bombay batsman was unbeaten on 130.

England were 191 runs behind, and their only hope was to hold out for a draw, which would give them the series. At New Delhi in the first Test, they had faced a first-innings deficit of 215 runs but had played out the last two days to earn a honourable draw. This time, however, there was never any chance of pulling off a similar feat. The pitch was already starting to break, and Ghulam Ahmed and Mankad were ready.

Sunday, February 10, dawned bright and clear. And indeed, the sun did shine on Indian cricket on that day. England lost wickets at regular intervals to the two spinners, and when Gopinath took the catch to end the match with the clock atop the pavilion showing 2:54 pm, England were all out for 183, and India had won by an innings and eight runs. Ghulam Ahmed and Mankad took four wickets each for 77 and 53 runs respectively. Mankad's match figures of 12 for 108 were the best ever by an Indian bowler, and in their 25th attempt, India had at last broken their cricketing duck.

Congratulatory cables flew thick and fast from all over, especially from President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Although they may have been worded differently, the gist of all those messages was that it was the greatest day in Indian cricket. It remained so for long, and even today, 50 years later, the triumph has lost little of its original significance, despite the many further triumphs that have followed since then.