India's first cricket test team - Shankarrao Godambe

Shankarrao Godambe

Shankarrao Ramachandra Godambe was a medium pace bowler and a useful lower order batsman who represented India ( tour matches), Gujarat, Hindus and Mumbai. He had along career for Hindus in Bombay Quadrangular where he had a memorable match scoring twin fifites in Hindus win against Europeans.  He was selected in the 1932 tour team based on 6-44 in a trial match and possibly by considering that his medium pace would be useful in England. Also, his lower order batting would be advantageous

His matches during the tour were:

Sussex v Indians

He played in the first match of the tour. Batted at number 8 in the first innings but didnt score any runs. Bowled in both the innings and had the analyses 7-2-5-0 and 7-2-11-1.  Typical bowling analyses of a medium pace bowler in England. This match was drawn

After missing the match against Glamorgan, be was back in the team for Oxford match

Oxford University v Indians

Batted at number 8 in the first innings was not out for 9. Did not bat in the second innings
Bowled in both the innings 6-1-16-0 and  19-4-54-1 . Also took a catch in this match which India won by 8 wickets

Missed next two matches and was back against Essex

Essex v Indians

Batted at number 7 scoring 15 . He did not bat in the second innings. His bowling analyses were
9-2-22-1 and 4-0-13-0 in this drawn match.

Missed next 7 matches including the test match and was back against Yorkshire

Yorkshire v Indians

Batted at number 7 and 9 scoring 1 and 0 respectively. His bowling analyses were 4-0-16-0 and
3-1-5-0 in this match India lost by 6 wickets

Played his first consecutive match against Middlesex

Middlesex v Indians

Batted at number 7 and scored 13. Did not bat in the second innings. Just bowled in the second innings 6-1-10-1. This match was drawn

Scotland v Indians

Batted at number 8 in the first innings and scored 13. Was promoted to one-down in second innings but could score only 6. Didnt bowl in either innings and took one catch in this match which India won by 200 runs. Looks like his promotion to number 3 was to compensate for him not bowling!

Missed match aganist Glamorgan and was back against Warwickshire

Warwickshire v Indians



Batted at number 10 scoring 12* and 7* . Had bowling analyses of 31.5-6-64-4 and 15-2-36-1 in this drawn match

After missing match agains Gloucestershire, he was back for the Somerset match. Its puzzling why he was dropped aftet his best match of the tour versus Warwickshire




Somerset v Indians




Batted at number 7 and number 8 scoring 8 and 0 respectively. His bowling analyses were 7-1-7-0 and  15.2-3-47-4. Also took a catch in this match which India won by 163 runs

Missed the match against Surrey again after a good performance



Derbyshire v Indians

Both the innings batted at number 11 bagging a pair. His analyses were 20-7-45-2 and 7-2-21-0 in this match which Derbyshire won by 9 runs

Played the next match as well


Leicestershire v Indians

Didnt bat in either innings and bowled in second innings 13-4-21-0. India won this match by innings and 15 runs

Missed the next two matches and was back for the last match of the tour

HDG Leveson-Gower's XI v Indians

Batted in the only innings at number 11 and scored 1*. His bowling analyses were 27-9-43-1 and 4-0-9-0 in this drawn match

He didnt have a great tour scoring 96 runs from 12 completed innings. Also, took 16 wickets at an average of 27.8 with a bets bowling figure of 4-64 against Warwickshre.  He seems to have been a much better player checking his stats ( Batting average of 16.3 and bowling average of 22.86) , but possibly he didnt get an extended run and hence was never able to get accustomed to English conditions. He never played a test match for India

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches
Facebook Post
Interesting Article
CK Nayudu Sixer

India's first cricket test team - Joginder Singh

Joginder Singh

Cricinfo mentions him as "Capt Joginder Singh", but couple of sources mention him as a Major ( Wiki mentions him as "Major Sardar Joginder Singh Baidwan").
He was a right-hand batsman who played 23 first class matches ( India, Sikhs and Southern Punjab) scoring 521 runs at an average of 14.88. His only fifty of firstclass career (79) came against Gloucestershire in India's 1932 tour of England. He has taken couple of first class wickets ( all in one innings 2-101) at and average of 50.5 and economy of 6.31 suggesting that he was very much a part-time bowler. His first class batting stats are also not very good. Possibly he was selected as he was a good athlete ( played Polo for "Patiala Tigers" ) and was associated with Maharaja of Patiala and Maharaja of Mandi. Possibly he was able to be part of the tour due to this ( Mentioned by Edward Wybergh Docker in "History of Indian Cricket")
He tragically died in a car crash at the age of 35/36 in 1940 

His matches during the tour were:

He didnt play the first match Vs Sussex and his first match was Vs Glamorgan

Glamorgan v Indians

Batted at number 10 in the first innings and scored 27. Possibly based on his good performance in the first innings, he was promoted to number 4 but could only scored 15 before getting out. He took a catch as well in this drawn match

Missed next two matches and was back in the team for the match against Hampshire

Hampshire v Indians

Batted at number 9 scoring 5 and 15 in this match which India lost by innings and 103 runs

Missed next 6 matches including the first test match and was back in the team for the match versus Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire v Indians

Batted at number 10 and retired hurt for 12 in the first innings. Did not bat in the second innings in this match which India lost by 224 runs.

In the first innings he wa brutally bounced by Harold Larwood to win a bet of knocking his turban off. Larwood succeeded in this and then continued bouncing him till he was hit on the face and had to retire hurt. He missed the second innings and possibly missed the next few matches due to this.
This brutal incident is also mentioned in "Bodyline Autopsy: The full story of the most sensational Test cricket series: Australia v England 1932-33" by David Frith

Missed next 4 matches before being back in the team for the match against Glamorgan

Glamorgan v Indians




Batted at number 8 scoring 8(run out) and 5 . Also took a catch in this match which India won by 54 runs.

After missing the match against Warwickshire, he was back against Gloucestershire 




Gloucestershire v Indians

Batted at number 7 scoring 3 and 79 ( second highest score in the innings after SHM Colah's 94) . Was run out in the first innings like in the match vs Glamorgan

Took 2 catches as well in this match India won by 55 runs

This was his best match of the tour so far.

Played his consecutive match of the tour on the back of the impressive performance




Somerset v Indians



Batted at number 8 in the first innings and was undefeated on 16. Batted at number 7 and was out stumped for 7 with India going for declaration. Possibly he was going for big shots. Took 1 catch as well in this match which India won by 163 runs

After missing the match against Surrey he was back in team versus Derbyshire





Derbyshire v Indians

Batted at number 8 scoring 3 ( stumped) and 0. India lost this closely fought match by 9 runs.

After missing the match against Leicestershire, he was back against Kent

Kent v Indians

Batted at number 9 and 10 and was undefeated on 12 and 1 in this match which India lost by 58 runs

This was his last match of the tour and he missed the next two matches


He played just 8 matches in the tour scoring 208 runs at an average of 18.9 and  also took 4 catches,
Seems to  have been a decent player and if promoted after the Gloucestershire natch in which he hit 79, he could have had better stats. Also he was not given a long run and played only two matches consecutively.

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches
Photo
Article mentioning Joginder Singh
Larwood bouncing Joginder Singh
Team photo

India's first cricket test team - Lall Singh

Lall Singh

Lall Singh is the answer for a trivia question. Who is the first test cricketer born in Malaysia? He was the only one till Steve O'Keefe played test cricket. He played India's maiden test match and that was the only test match he ever played. He is the first outstanding Indian fielder and a quick mover on the field.  It was mentioned that "he glided over the ground like a snake". His brilliant anticipation and throw removed Frank Woolley. He was also involved in a counter-attacking partnership of 74 runs in 40 minutes for 8th wiicket with Amar Singh in the second innings. He batted at number 8 and scored 15,29 and took a catch. In his firstclass career he also played for Hindus and Southern Punjab. He scored 1123 runs from 32 matches at an average of 24.95 with one century ( 107*) and 5 fifties. He doesnt seem to have been much of a bowler and picked only 1 wiket in his firstclass career. After his first class career, he moved back to Kuala Lumpur ( then part of Federated Malay States, now Malaysia). There was a rumour that he became a night club owner, but seems that he spent his life as a groundsman in Kuala Lumpur and was involved in the promotion of cricket.

His matches during the tour were:

He played the first match of the tour

Sussex v Indians

Batted at number 6 in the first innings and scored 6. In second innings, he batted at number 7 and was not out on 29. Took one catch as well in the match which was a draw

Missed the match versus Glamorgan and was back in team against Oxford University

Oxford University v Indians

Batted at number 5 in the first innings and was out for 11 runs by Bowes. He did not bat in the second innings. Took one catch in this Indian win ( by 8 wickets)

Marylebone Cricket Club v Indians

Batted at number 9 and was out for 5 in this drawn match

Missed three matches and was back for the match against Cambridge

Cambridge University v Indians

Batted at number 7 and scored 28 runs. Did not bat in the second innings. Took one catch as well in this match India won by 9 wickets

Lancashire v Indians




Batted at 8 and scored 21 in this drawn match. Did not bat in the second innings




Worcestershire v Indians



Batted at number 8 in the first innings and scored his first fifty of the tour before getting out for 52. Scored 10 in the second innings at number 7 and also tool three catches in the match. which India won by 3 wickets







England v India - Test Match






Batted at number 7 in the first innings and scored 15 runs. He then batted at number 8 in the second innings and scored 29 runs in a counter-attacking partnership of 74 in 40 minutes with Amar Singh. He had a life when the stumping was missed off the bowling of Robins in the second innings. He took one catch and also ran out Frank Woolley with a well anticipated hard throw. 





Nottinghamshire v Indians

Batted at number 7 and scored 16 runs in the first innings and was unbeated on 28 in the second innings in this loss against Nottinghamshire. Took one catch as well

Lancashire v Indians

Scored 13 and 9* in this loss against Lancashire. Also took two catches.

Yorkshire Vs Indians

Bagged a pair batting at positions 9 and 8 in this loss against Yorkshire. Bowled for first time in teh tour bowled 2 balls and gave 4 runs , the winning runs for Yorkshire in the match

Missed the match against Middlesex and was back in the team vs Scotland

Scotland v Indians

Batted at number 7 in the first innings and scored 28. In second innings, batted at his highest batting position of 4, but got out for just 3. Bowled 4 overs and took a wicket with the analysis 4-1-9-1. Wicket keeper Janardhan Navle caught AD Baxter for Lall Singh's only wicket of his first class career. India won this match comfortably by 200 runs

Glamorgan v Indians

Batted at number 7 scored 33 and 11 runs in this Indian win by 54 runs

After missing the match against Warwickshire, he was back against Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire Vs Indians

Batted at number 5 and scored 5 and 5. Also took one catch in this match which India won by 55 runs mainly courtesy Amar Singh's 12 wicket match haul

Missed 3 matches and was back against Leicestershire

Leicestershire Vs Indians

Batted at number 8 and scored 37 in the only Indian innings. Also took one catch and bowled one over conceding one run in this match which India won by innings and 15 runs

Missed two matches and was back for the last match of the tour

HDG Leveson-Gower's XI v Indians




Batted at number 10 and scored 24 in the only Indian innings in this 3 day match . Bowled 1 over and conceded 11 runs without any wickets.







The tour matches dont indicate who did the runouts and how many runs were saved by each fielders. Maybe with these numbers, Lall Singh's tour might have been seen as much more successful 







He was from an affluent Sikh family settled in Malaya and was to close to Maharaja Bhupinder Singh who was supposed to be the captain for 1932 tour, but had to withdraw due to illness. Lall Singh had a colourful life living in Paris, caught and tortured by Japanese during world war two, losing all properties after war ending up as a groundsman and then gaining all back with the help of Sultan of Selangor. He ended his life living prosperously travelling to Paris often and having cricket tournaments named after him.Wiki gives lot more details regarding his background.



References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches
Ask Steven
Night Club Owner
Notes on the First Test
About being first noticed in Malaya
More details
Malaysia Hall of Fame
More Details
Hall of Fame
More Details
Lall Singh Trophy

India's first cricket test team - Bahadur Kapadia

Bahadur Kapadia

Bahadur Edulji Kapadia was the reserve wicket keeper for the 1932 inaugral test match. His opportunities were limited as the main wicket keeper Janardan Navle had an impresive tour.
Bahadur Kapadia was a Parsee and played for the Parsees team from 1920/21 to 1935/36. He played a total of 30 first class matches but unfortunately couldnt add a test cap.

His matches during the tour were:

He didnt play in the first two matches for which Janardan Navle was the wicket keeper, he played his first match of the tour vs Oxford University at the University Parks ground, where i had a chance to see Kevin Pietersen hit 170 lot many years later!

Oxford University v Indians

Batted at number 7 in the first innings was out for 7. Did not bat in the second innings
Took one catch in each innings in this Indian win over Oxford university

After missing the match again MCC he was back in the team against Hampshire

Hampshire v Indians

Batted at number 10 , scored 5 and 3 notout. Took one catch. India lost by innings and 103 runs in this match

Missed next two matches and was back in the team for vs Cambridge University

Cambridge University v Indians

Batted at number 10 and scored 37 runs. Did not bat in the second innings
Also took a stumping off the bowling of CK Nayudu. India won this match comfortably by 9 wickets

Missed the next 6 matches including the inaugral test match and was back for the match against Middlesex

Middlesex v Indians

In a match dominated by India, he didnt get chance to bat in either innings and contributed with one catch .The match ended in draw

Missed the next three matches and was back for the match against Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire v Indians

Batted at number 11 and 9 and scored 2 and 0. Took one catch as well. India wont this batch by 55 runs mainly due to Amar Singh's herioics.


Somerset v Indians



Played his first consecutive first class match. Batted at number 10 and got out for 5. Took one catch in this Indian win

Missed next two matches and was back against Leicestershire





Leicestershire v Indians

Didnt get a chance to bat in this match which India won by innings and 15 runs. Took one catch.

This was his last match of the tour and did not feature in the team for the last 3 matches.



He got sporadic chances in 7 matches out of the 26 matches played in the 1932 tour. Ended up scoring 77 runs from 7 innings with one not out and ended with a tour average of 12.83. Took 7 catches and a stumping. His firstclass average from 44 innings ( 6 notouts) was 13.73, but has 47 catches and 24 stumpings. So, possibly his batting is in line with his first class career. Probably he was a good wicket keeper with limited batting skills. His catches/stumpings are much less as compared to his firstclass career. I would have expected that he would have got more catches in England due to the swinging conditions.

Ramachandra Guha's book "A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport" mentions a controversial notout catch off the batting of Bahadur Kapadia. This was in the 1929 Quadrangular trophy ( Religion based teams - Hindus, Muslims, Parsees and Europeans) semi final versus Europeans. Ramachandra Guha mentions Bahadur Kapadia as a key player and from the controversy, we can assume that he wasnt a mug with the bat as the stats suggest

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches

India's first cricket test team - K S Limbdi

K S Limbdi

Ghanshyamsinhji Daulatsinhji was a prince of the state of Limbdi, a princely state located in the current Indian state of Gujarat. He was a cousin of K S Duleepsinhji  and brother-in-law of  the caption for 1923 tour, Maharaja of Porbandar . He was the Vice Captain for the 1932 team , but missed out on India's maiden test match due to a back injury. 

He played 11 matches in 1932 tour and scored 160 runs at an average of 10.66
Cricinfo mentions the numbers as 154 with an average of 9.62. Possibly the did not consider the match England XI v Indians. That gives a total of 154, but still the average is 11. This is something to be checked

His matches during the tour were:

Oxford University v Indians

Batted at number 6 in the first innings and was out caught by van der Bijl off the bowling of Barlow for 2. Did not bat in the second innings
Captained in this match

Marylebone Cricket Club v Indians

Batted at number 8 and was bowled for 11 runs by Bowes. He did not bat in the second innings
Captained in this match

Hampshire v Indians

Batted at number 8 , scored 0 and 1 and got out to Bailey in both the innings

Captained in this match

Cambridge University v Indians

Batted at number 6 and scored 11 runs before getting out to Rought-Rought. Maharaja of Porbandar was captain in this match and incidentally he got out to Rought-Rought as well
Did not bat in the second innings

Nottinghamshire v Indians

Back as captain
Batted at number 8 and scored 5 ( Out to Voce )  and 12 ( Out to SJ Staples)  . This match he took 2 catches off Amar Singh's bowling

Lancashire v Indians



He is marked as captain of the team, but was absent hurt in both the innings. 




Gloucestershire v Indians



After missing 9 matches, including the maiden test match, he is back as the captain and had his best match of the tour so far. Scord 10 and 39 batting at number 8 and also took 4 catches.




Surrey v Indians



Scored 7, 43 at number 8 and also took a catch. He captained the team





Derbyshire v Indians

Promoted hiselft to number 6. But had a bad match. Just scored 3, 0 at number 8. Took 2 catches. Captained the team as well.

Kent v Indians

Bagged a pair batting at number 8. Captained the team

England XI v Indians

Scored 6 and 4 notout at number 9.Captained the team

He scored 19 first class matches in his career scoring 505 runs at at average of 17.41. His highest score was 57 scored for his own team, KS Ghanshyamsinhji of Limbdi's XII, against Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram's XI, in a trial match for the 1932 tour

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches
Photo

India's first cricket test team - Maharaja of Porbandar

Maharaja of Porbandar

                                              

Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji was the last Maharaja of Porbandar, a princely state located in the current Indian state of Gujarat. Porbandar is more famous among Indians as the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, whose father served as a Diwan ( Chief Minister ) of Porbandar. India's first test tour was to be captained by a Royal as per the norms of the time.
Initially Maharaja of Patiala was supposed to lead the All-India team's 1932 tour to England but had to withdraw due to ill health. 

Maharaja of Porbandar was appointed as the captain to satisfy the requirement of royalty even though his skills as a cricketer were very much limited.

He played just 4 matches in 1932 tour and scored just 2 runs. A cricinfo article mentions that it was just one shot, a leg side glance for 2 at Cardiff Vs Glamorgan. He was reputed to own more Rolls Royce cards (7) than the runs he scored in the tour, which reminded me of another royal of recent times, Sultan Zarawani 

But he showed good judgement and lack of ego in handing over the reins of the team to C K Nayudu. On his return to India, be played just 1 more match, which implies he was selected to captain the tour after playing just a single match. Those were very different times where family pedigree was more important than the actual skills. 

His matches during the tour were:

Sussex Vs Indians

Batted at number 9 in the first innings and was out bowled by Tate before opening his account. Did not bat in the second innings

Glamorgan Vs Indians

Again batted at number 9. This time opened his account before being bowled for 2 runs by Jones. He did not bat in the second innings

Essex v Indians

He skipped a few matches before coming back to the team in this match, but rain ans some good batting by his team mates denied him chance to bat

Cambridge University v Indians

Promoted himself to number 8, but was caught by Titley off the bowling of Rought-Rought for 0
Again, did not bat in the second innings



He was painter, write and musician. Wiki mentions that he has written 4 books and jointly composed a waltz. He also played a big part in putting together Kriti Mandir , a memorial for Gandhiji

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
Regarding Porbandar princely state
Royals in cricket
Porbandar
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches

500+ partnerships in firstclass cricket

500+ partnerships in firstclass

Partnership	Between	Match	Place	Date
561	Waheed Mirza and Mansoor Akhtar	Karachi Whites v Quetta	Karachi	1976-77
555	P Holmes and H Sutcliffe	Yorkshire v Essex	Leyton	1932
554	JT Brown and J Tunnicliffe	Yorkshire v Derbyshire	Chesterfield	1898
503	RGL Carters and AJ Finch	Cricket Australia XI v New Zealanders	Sydney	2015/16
580	Rafatullah Mohmand and Aamer Sajjad	Sui Southern Gas Corporation v WAPDA	Sheikhupura	2009-10
576	ST Jayasuriya and RS Mahanama	Sri Lanka v India	Colombo	1997-98
594*	SM Gugale and AR Bawne	Maharashtra v Delhi	Mumbai	2016/17
539	SD Jogiyani and RA Jadeja	Saurashtra v Gujarat	Surat	2012-13
523	MA Carberry and ND McKenzie	Hampshire v Yorkshire	Southampton	2011
501	AN Petersen and AG Prince	Lancashire v Glamorgan	Colwyn Bay	2015
577	VS Hazare and Gul Mahomed	Baroda v Holkar	Baroda	1946-47
574*	CL Walcott and FMM Worrell	Barbados v Trinidad	Port-of-Spain	1945-46
502*	FMM Worrell and JDC Goddard	Barbados v Trinidad	Bridgetown	1943-44
520*	CA Pujara and RA Jadeja	Saurashtra v Orissa	Rajkot	2008-09

Amazing that only Ravindra Jadeja has been involved in more than one 500+ partnerships in firstclass