India Taste Their First Success In Test Cricket On English Soil

The Indian team that won the first ever Test on English soil in 1971 [X]The Indian team that won the first ever Test on English soil in 1971 [X]

The Indian Cricket Team played their first Test match in 1932. Since, then they had to wait for about 39 years to win a Test match on English soil. On 24th August, the Indian team managed to defeat the English team on their home soil for the first time. 

India trailed England in the first innings

In the third Test of the series at Oval, England batted first and posted 355 runs in their first innings. Alan Knott was the highest scorer for the team with 90 from 116. Besides Knott, John Jameson (82 off 152) and Richard Hutton (81 off 125) also scored half-centuries. Eknath Solkar starred with the ball for India picking up three wickets for 28 runs in his 15 overs. 

In reply, India posted 284 with Dilip Sardesai (54 off 139) and Farokh Engineer (59 off 111) scoring half-centuries. Ray Illingworth was the most successful bowler for England with five wickets for 70 runs in his 34.3 overs. 


Bhagwath Chandrasekhar scripted the most dramatic comeback in Test cricket

In their second dig at the game, the English team was troubled by the spin of Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. He picked up six wickets for 38 in his 18.1 overs and as a result the English team was bundled out for just 101 runs. 

India needed 173 to win this game and they achieved it losing six wickets. The skipper of the team, Ajit Wadekar (45 off 118) and Dilip Sardesai (40 off 156) led the chase for the team. With the four wicket win in the third and final match of the series, India managed to win the series too as the first two games ended in a draw. 

Thus, the day 24th August will be forever important in the history of the great cricketing nation. Not only they achieved their first ever Test win on English soil, they also managed to win the series and announce themselves as one of the rising powers in the cricketing world.