Team India recently played its 500th Test match when they faced New Zealand in Kanpur last year. It was an iconic occasion and BCCI celebrated the occasion with great pomp and show, but do you know when was the first time when India played its first ever international game?
It was a long ago in 1932 when India participated in an international game against England. It was a Test match at Lord’s where CK Nayudu-led side landed in England to play a Test match. Though it was the second time when India travelled to England to play a game but the last time it was not an international contest. The iconic game started on June 25 at the home of cricket, Lord’s, which they lost.
The host side batted first and put up a total of 259 on the board. It was the first ever Test for India and of course, they were not expected to perform well but still, the visiting side batted for 93 overs, in which they gathered 189 runs, at a run-rate close to 2.00. Captain CK Nayudu was himself the highest run-scorer for the side with a score of 40 alongside his name.
England side continued their fluent batting and riding on a innings of 85* from captain Sir Douglas Jardine, they posted a total of 275/8 on the board. Team India had a steep task to chase down 346 runs in the fourth innings of the game.
The total is quite high even if talking now, after 140 years when the first international game was played and as expected, India lost the match. Though the side witnessed an iconic moment when Amar Singh became first ever batsman to score a half-century in Test cricket for India. Ironically, he was a bowler, who turned out to create a historic moment with the bat. In fact, he had scored a total of five first-class centuries and 18 half-centuries.
Talking of the game, team India though lost the match, but there were a lot of positives from the contests.
However, India had to wait for a total of 36 years to register their first ever series victory outside home country and the occasion came in 1968 against New Zealand when Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi-led side won the series by 3-1. It is a sheer coincidence that the same team marked its presence in team India’s 500 Test match, where Virat Kohli led the side.