The milestone Tests of Indian cricket

The milestone Tests of Indian cricket.

New Delhi: It is quite astounding to find a country that played its fist match at Lord's in 1932 had already got to the 400-match mark by 2006. There will be another record that will go to India's name when they play their 100th Test against England at the same venue where they had played their first 79 years ago. We look back at the landmark Tests India has been involved in over those years.
1st Test – vs England at Lord’s in 1932


Having lost the toss and asked to field, the visitors gave a shock to the home fans when they sent the likes of Herbert Sutcliffe, Percy Holmes and Frank Woolley back to the pavilion cheaply in both innings. But it was English skipper Douglas Jardine who pulled the side round by scoring (79) and (85 not out) in first and second innings respectively.
India’s opening bowler Mohammad Nissar produced some outstanding deliveries and returned with figures of 5/93, the first ever five-wicket haul by an Indian. The visitors' controlled bowling was well supported by some very quick and clean fielding. After displaying a creditable show on the field, Indians failed to replicate it in batting. Except their captain CK Nayudu and Amar Singh, none of the other Indian batsmen could make any substantial contribution.
Nayudu made 40 in the first innings, while Singh made the only half-century (51) for the visitors. The two Bills - Bill Bowes and Bill Voce - took full advantage of their opponents' inexperience by testing them with pace and swing. Though India lost the match by 158 runs, it was a great beginning for a side that was playing its first international match.
50th Test - vs Australia at Madras (Corp) in 1956
Playing at the Corporation Stadium in Madras, India started their innings on a positive note after deciding to bat first. But despite good starts, none of the big names - Vinoo Mankand (27); Polly Umrigar (31), who was also captaining the side; and Vijay Manjrekar (41) - could go on to make a big score.
The home team's batsmen were completely rattled first by leg-spinner Richie Benaud, who took seven Indian wickets in their first innings, and then by Ray Lindwall, who too enriched his wickets' tally with the same number in their second essay. None of the Aussie batsmen, too, could make a big score despite getting decent starts. But an outstanding 73 by skipper Ian Johnson made sure that the visitors accumulate enough runs so that they didn't have to come out to bat again. And that's what happened.
After making 161 in their first innings, Indians were bowled out for 153 in their second, thus losing the match by an innings and five runs. The win also helped the visitors take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
100th Test - vs England at Birmingham in 1967
The extent of India's reliability on spinners in those days can be illustrated by the fact that they played with four genuine tweakers in the seamer-friendly English conditions. Bishan Singh Bedi (slow left-arm orthodox), Erapalli Prasanna (right-arm off-break), Srinivas Venkataraghavan (right-arm offbreak) and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar (lebreak) were all playing in the third Test at Edgbaston.
With the help of the combined effort of the four, India were able to restrict the home side to under 300 (298 runs), but their batsmen failed miserably. The visitors' batting in the first innings fell like a pack of cards as they were skittled for mere 92 by John Snow and David Brown.
And though they did better in their second essay with a patient 70 off 214 balls by Ajit Wadekar, the first innings' lead that they conceded proved decisive at the end as they lost the contest by 132 runs. Prasanna was the best among the four Indian spinners, taking seven wickets in the match.
200th Test - vs Pakistan at Lahore in 1982
It was first of the six matches of the series and though the match ended in a draw, it turned out to be a statistician's delight. Pakistan piled up 485 runs in their first innings after Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar asked the home side to bat first. Zaheer Abbas made a magnificent double ton (215), his 100th first-class century and only the twentieth batsman to have achieved the feat.
Mohsin Khan, too, went into record books by completing 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year, the first Pakistani to do so. For India, Mohinder Amarnath made his third ton (109 not out), while Sandeep Patil too racked up a half-century (68 not out). Gavaskar also passed 7,000 runs in Tests, a feat achieved only by Boycott, Cowdrey, Hammond and Sobers.
Dilip Doshi was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 5 for 90. But the draw was inevitable after persistent rain and bad light affected the major part of the match.
300th Test - vs South Africa at Ahmedabad in 1996
An inspired bowling effort (6-21 in just 11.5 overs) by medium pacer Javagal Srinath helped India secure a series-levelling victory in the second Test of the three-match series. Chasing 211 for victory, South Africa were bowled out for 105, with Srinath being the main destroyer, while Anil Kumble too chipped in with three wickets in visitors' second innings.
India conceded a 21-run lead after being bowled out for 223 in their first innings and restricting the African side to 244. The hosts' batsmen didn't have any answers to the fearsome pace duo of Allan Donald and Fanie de Villiers, and the nagging line and length of Brian McMillan. Only VVS Laxman hit a half-century and top-scored for the home side with his 51.
But Srinath gave the South African a taste of their own medicine by bowling fast and with fury, and thus helped India win the match by 64 runs. The visitors came back into the series by winning the Kolkata Test but India clinched the series by winning the Kanpur Test.
400th Test - vs West Indies at Kingston in 2006
After no results in the first three matches of the four-match series, India produced a clinical performance to win the match in Jamaica. It was a low-scoring game, with only West Indies able to cross the 200-run mark in their second innings. India, after being bowled out for 200 in their first innings, managed only 171 in their second. But the 97-run lead that they got in the first innings by skittling the home side for mere 103, proved decisive at the end.
The spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble shared the honours in the first and second innings respectively. Harbhajan destroyed Windies first innings by taking 5 wickets for 13 runs in just 4.3 overs. Kumble produced a daring effort in the second by clinching six for 78 in his 22.4 overs as India won the contest by 49 runs.