Anupama Nair
India's national cricket team did not play its first Test match until 25 June 1932 under Captain C.K Naidu at Lord’s becoming the sixth team to be granted test cricket status. India hosted its first Test series in the year 1933. England was the visiting team that played 2 Tests in Bombay and Calcutta. The visitors easily won the series 2–0. The Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and 40s but did not achieve an international victory during this period. In the early 1940s, India didn't play any Test Cricket due to the War. The team's first series as an independent country was in late 1947 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincible (a name given to the Australian team). It was also the first Test series India played against a different opponent. Australia won the 5-match series 4–0, with Bradman tormenting the Indian bowling in his final Australian summer. India subsequently played their first Test series at home, but against the West Indies in 1948. West Indies won the 5-Test series 1–0. India recorded their first Test victory, in their 24th match, against England at Madras in 1952, which was a great achievement for a newly independent India.
In its first 50 years of international cricket, India was one of the weaker teams, winning only 35 of the first 196 Test matches it played. The team, however, gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players such as Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Kapil Dev and the spin bowler’s like Bedi and Prasanna and Chandrashekar.
India maintained their unbeaten home record against Australia in Test series after victory in 2001. The series is ever there in our minds and all Indians remember the match with pride. The series was famous for the Kolkata Test match, in which India became only the third team in the history of Test Cricket to win a Test match after “following on”. Australian Captain Steve Waugh labelled India as the “Final Frontier” because of his side's inability to win a Test series in India. The victory was only possible due to epic innings of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and great bowling of Harbajan Singh. Victory in 2001 against the Australians marked the beginning of a dream run for India till now, winning Test series in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Pakistan and Australia. Only South Africa, England and New Zealand are the “final frontiers”. We will soon conquer that peak too any time.
Now there are twelve Test playing countries recognized by ICC – England (1877), Australia (1877), South Africa (1889 and banned later because of Apartheid and later in 1992), West Indies (1928), New Zealand (1930), India (1932), Pakistan (1952), Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992), Bangladesh (2000), Ireland and Afghanistan (2018).
(to be continued…)
