Relive all our Test Victories

[kabira]

First Victory was in Madras (Chennai now) And that was huge victory after being one nil down against strong English team. Chief Architect was Vinoo Mankad (probably India's first genuine allrounder) India achieved its first ever Test victory in 1951-52 when it beat England in Madras. Having made its Test debut in 1932, India had to wait for 20 long years in the sidelines before making its mark in the big stage. In that eventful year, India also recorded its maiden series triumph against Pakistan. In this historic match legendary batsman Vijay Hazare led the Indian contingent while his English counterpart was Donald Carr. With England sitting pretty on a 1-0 lead, the Indian team was looking to restore parity in this final Test of the five match series. The England team won the toss and elected to bat. Thanks to an inspired bowling performance by Vinoo Mankad, the English team was bowled out for 266 with Mankad grabbing eight wickets. India replied with a mammoth total of 457, riding piggyback on fine centuries by Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar. On a pitch that was breaking up and spinning, India bowled out England for a paltry 183 in the second innings, to win the Test by an innings and eight runs. Mankad and Ghulam Ahmed shared the spoils with four wickets apiece. Even though England was missing the services of some key players, nothing can take the sheen off India's emphatic first ever Test victory. scorecard http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62729.html

[kabira]

They made history by recording their first Test victory, and they did it in emphatic style. Undoubtedly India were the superior all-round side and they went all out for success from the first ball. Their hero was Mankad, who bowled superbly in each innings, taking twelve wickets in the match for 108. His performance of eight for 55 in the first innings has seldom been bettered in Test cricket when it is considered that the pitch gave him little assistance. Mankad's bowling inspired the whole side, the fielding being far better than in previous matches and the batting possessed a more adventurous spirit, necessary for the occasion. England disappointed badly. There was no real reason for the batting collapse in the first innings which virtually decided the match. Hopes that they could stage one of their renowned recoveries were dashed when the pitch turned difficult after the third day. Yet again India made five changes from their previous side. Manjrekar, Nayudu, Shinde, Joshi and Adhikari stood down for Mushtaq Ali, Amarnath, Gopinath, Divecha and Sen. As originally chosen the side included Adhikari and omitted Umrigar, but a wrist injury due to a fall gave Umrigar another opportunity which he seized splendidly. Carr led England for the first time, Howard standing down with pleurisy, this being the one change from the Kanpur side. Carr won the toss, giving England a 3-2 advantage in the series, but they were soon in difficulties, Lowson being bowled by a splendid breakback with three scored. Spooner and Graveney looked like bringing about a recovery, but the advent of Mankad at 65 changed the course of the match. Two or three times Mankad almost lured Graveney out of his ground before the batsman could resist no longer and moved forward to a ball well on the off and was stumped. Spooner and Robertson added 60 for the next stand, but again just when England looked to be getting themselves out of trouble a wicket fell, Spooner, who stayed two hours fifty minutes, being caught at cover off Hazare's second ball. For a change, Watkins failed and Poole was never comfortable. With half the side out for 197 only two recognised batsmen, Robertson and Carr, remained. They made a good effort with a partnership of 47 before Robertson was brilliantly caught and bowled after a stay of four and a half hours. Mankad followed this by taking the last four wickets which fell for 22, three of them stumped when lured forward by the flight. During the afternoon the death of King George VI was announced and arrangements were changed, the second day being made the rest day. Subsequently India batted consistently, with Roy again in fine form. Fourth out at 191, he scored his second century of the series and hit fifteen 4's in 111, made in three hours fifty minutes. India really took control after the fall of the fifth wicket, Phadkar and Umrigar adding 104 and Umrigar and Gopinath 93 in eighty minutes. Umrigar took out his bat for 130 after four hours thirty-five minutes, a splendid effort following a run of disappointing scores in the Tests. England, 191 behind, survived the last quarter of an hour on the third day, but with the pitch wearing they were soon struggling next day. Robertson again batted well and made top score for the second time, Watkins showed he was still full of fight, but they were almost alone in their resistance and the match ended before tea on the fourth day. The scenes at the finish were surprisingly subdued, but the Indian officials and players were delighted at the first victory by their country at the twenty-fifth attempt to win a Test match.

[kabira]

Second Test Victory was against Padosis. They got thrashed and again it was Vinoo Mankad Toss: India. Test debuts: Pakistan - all except A.H.Kardar and Amir Elahi who had previously played for India, Kardar playing as 'Abdul Hafeez'. The cleverly varied left-arm slow bowling of Mankad on a pitch responsive to spin proved too great an obstacle for Pakistan. Mankad's most deadly spell came after Nazar Mohammed and Hanif Mohammed made 64 for the opening stand. In 16 overs he took six wickets, and his final figures of eight wickets for 52 in the first innings and thirteen wickets for 131 in the match were both new records for Indian Test cricket. Ghulam Ahmed gave good support with off-spinners, but it was as a batsman in a record last-wicket stand of 109 in eighty minutes with Adhikari that he won the admiration of the crowd. Ghulam hit two sixes and five fours. Kardar and Imtiaz Ahmed were Pakistan's only convincing batsmen against spin.

[kabira]

Scorecard http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62741.html

[kabira]

Superb Excerpts Vinoo's web Vinoo Mankad spun a web around Pakistan at Delhi © The Cricketer International Electrifying passages revisits ten great passages of play that exemplify the intensity and passion of the rivalry between India and Pakistan ... In the first Test match played between the two countries, Vinoo Mankad spun out Pakistan with a marathon first-innings spell of 8 for 52 in 47 overs. After India had made 372, Pakistan collapsed from 64 for 0 to 129 all out in their first innings, and eventually lost the Test. Polly Umrigar I rate Vinoo as one of the best left-arm spinners of all time. He could bowl on matting as well as on turf. The way he bowled at Feroz Shah Kotla was remarkable. If you look at the number of overs he bowled in the first innings and the number of runs he gave to take those eight wickets, his mastery over the Pakistan batsmen becomes clear. The Pakistanis, used to seamers, were comfortable against the new-ball pair of Lala Amarnath and GS Ramchand. But once Vinoo and Ghulam Ahmed came into the attack they began to struggle. On hard Indian wickets Vinoo used to bowl tirelessly, pitching it at the right length consistently, drawing the batsman out and deceiving him in flight. Vinoo was a master of deception in the air. Before the batsman had played a ball, Vinoo could judge as to where exactly to bowl to him. He normally attacked the off side with his flight, and he would get lbws with his faster ones, pushing the ball in with his arm. And so it was with the Pakistani batsmen, who were trapped one by one. To get 13 wickets in a match you need to have some class - and Vinoo was top-class. Umrigar made 25 runs batting at No. 6 in India's only innings. Interviewed by Nagraj Gollapudi. Fazal Mahmood Vinoo was one of the most outstanding allrounders India has ever produced. He and I had played together for the Commonwealth team against the MCC at Ceylon earlier that year. In the Delhi Test Vinoo played havoc on Pakistan's batting line-up. We were happily placed at 50-odd without loss in our first innings when he struck. He was simply unplayable throughout the match and, with the exception of Hanif Mohammad, he tormented all our batsmen with his deceptive bowling. He bowled with immaculate length and direction, spun it well, and intelligently exploited the soggy wicket. Often the ball came at us chest-high. Also, Vinoo was ably used by Lala Amarnath, who I think was one of the shrewdest Indian captains I have ever observed. Lala hailed from Lahore and had played with some of our players in the Ranji Trophy and zonal tournaments before Partition. He knew most of our cricketers and exercised his knowledge both on and off the field. Lala set an attacking field for his bowler, and Vinoo for his part was right on target from the first ball on. I would also put on record that we were playing our first Test, after having attained Test status only two or three months before. Our batsmen couldn't cope with the pressure. But I am not offering an excuse to negate Vinoo's great performance in the first Test. He was the best at Delhi. Fazal took two wickets and made 21 and 27. He was the only Pakistani player not to lose his wicket to Mankad in the Test. Interviewed by Asif Sohail. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/145706.html

[kabira]

I will keep adding test victories one by one. Anyone else want to help

[kabira]

can mod make this sticky?

[The Outsider]

Excellent thread - get your contributions in guys!

[flamy]

Amazing thread!

[Chalks]

Link to scorecards from all 100 wins: http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/team/6.html?class=1;result=1;template=results;type=team;view=results

[kabira]

^thanks Uthappam for the link Next test won was in same series as second win .The series was first ever Indo Pak series and it was hard fought with legends from both the sides. After thrashing them in first Test, Pak came back and thrashed us, 3 Test to and all to play in Mumbai. India responds with another thrashing this time with 10 wickets. and again it was Vinoo Mankad who was major contributor with 8 wickets and then providing solid start. Vijay Hazare and Polly Umrigar scored brilliant hundred at good rate. We all hype current scoring rates in the test. In this test, on not so flat deck, they socred at 3.5 RPO. At Bombay, November 13, 14, 15, 16. India won by ten wickets. Kardar won the toss for the first time in the series and faced the unenviable task of deciding whether to bat on a pitch affected by sun following the early morning dew. He chose first innings and Pakistan made a bad start from which they never recovered. Waqar Hassan showed stubborn resistance, and on his second attempt, Hanif Mohammed demonstrated during six hours at the wicket that he possessed the temperament for the big occasion, but these two apart there was again a lack of skill against the turning ball. Mankad and Amaranth sent back the first six men for 60, and only the determination of Waqar Hassan prevented a complete rout. Hazare proved invaluable to India when they batted on turf still far from easy. His steady and correct methods helped to demoralise the attack and, with the danger period over, he and Umrigar, less orthdox but equally effective, hit one 6 and fifteen 4's in reaching his century in two and three-quarter hours. Hazare took half an hour longer over 100 and took out his bat after four and a quarter hours at the crease.

[kabira]

Next our 4th win came afte two years wait. It was again at our favorite hunting ground Brabourne Stadium. The 5 test match series was dominated by India. Subhash Gupte by that time had matured into world class spinner. He too over 30 wickets int he series at 19 odd a piece. The first test Kiwis managed to draw all due to stubborn batting by Guy (1st innings) and Sutcliffe in 2nd innings. However on more spin friendly wicket, they had no clue agsint Subhash Gupte. The game was set up by none other than , yes you guessed it Vinoo Mankad. This time with the bat. Classy double hundred and he almost carried his bat. After putting sizeable total, Kiwis were folded cheaply in both the innings. The follow on rules were different back then I think the difference was 150 runs, not 200 runs. At Bombay, December 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. India won by an innings and 27 runs, with four hours to spare. On a pitch of easy pace, India made an uncertain start, losing three wickets for 63 runs before Mankad and Kripal Singh mastered the steady but not dangerous attack. They added 167 for the fourth wicket. Mankad continued to bat splendidly after the partnership was broken, and he equalled the then Indian individual Test record score of 223, set up by Umrigar in the previous match. Batting for nearly eight hours, Mankad hit twenty-two 4's. Despite a sound innings by the left-hander, Sutcliffe, New Zealand were unable to avoid the follow-on in face of accurate bowling, well handled by Umrigar, and keen fielding. Gupte, who turned his leg-breaks appreciably despite the easy nature of the pitch, proved difficult, and he again troubled New Zealand in their second innings. Sutcliffe defended dourly, but apart from MacGibbon and Moir, none of the other batsmen offered prolonged resistance.

[kabira]

Next Victory came in 5th Test match v/s kiwis in same series. It was at Chennai. Yet again it was set up by opening pair of Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy. They put on 413 runs for 1st wicket. That was record for opening wicket until Smith and Mckenzie broke in 2007/08 by 2 runs. The record lasted for more than 50 years. Besides scoring double ton, Mankad chipped in with wickets. But credit in bowling department again goes to Subash Gupte. Again kiwis succumbed to guile of Gupte. India wound up the high-scoring series by breaking more records and gaining an overwhelming victory. Mankad and Roy, the Indian opening batsmen, mastered the New Zealand bowlers on an easy-paced pitch, and they were not parted until after lunch on the second day. They made 413, a record for Test cricket, surpassing 359 made by Hutton and Washbrook for England against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1948-49. Mankad scored 231, and passed the Indian individual Test record of 223 which he and Umrigar each made earlier in the series. India's 537 for three set up a new record total for that country, beating 498 for four declared in the first Test. The first-wicket partnership was also the best by an Indian pair in first class cricket, exceeding 293 by V. M. Merchant and Mankad for the Indians against Sussex at Hove in 1946. New Zealand, by steady bowling and keen fielding, managed to restrict the scoring rate for long spells, and the opening stand lasted for nearly eight hours. Mankad batted eight and three-quarter hours, hitting twenty-one 4's. Gupte, with leg-breaks, and Jasu Patel, an off-break bowler playing his first Test of the series, worried New Zealand, who despite cautious batting, followed-on 328 behind. Again spin upset them, this time Mankad, with left-arm slows, proving an effective partner to Gupte.

[kabira]

Superb articke by Partab Ramchand Mankad-Roy may be dead, but their 413 lives on Partab Ramchand February 4, 2001 Text size: A | A Their names do not roll off the tongue together in the same manner as Hobbs and Sutcliffe, Hutton and Washbrook, Lawry and Simpson and Greenidge and Haynes. But Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy achieved something that eluded even these legendary opening pairs. Last month - January 7 to be precise - was the 45th anniversary of their partnership of 413 runs for the first wicket, still the Test record. It remains Indian cricket's proudest statistical achievement. Now, with the death of Pankaj Roy, the two record makers are no longer with us - Mankad passed away in August 1978 - and this could be an apt time to recall, by way of tribute, the background to that feat and how it came about. Roy of course was a natural opening batsman and had served Indian cricket in that capacity from his opening Test against England at New Delhi in November 1951. Mankad on the other hand had alternated between opening the innings and going in the middle order. The two opened for the first time against England during the same series in the third Test at Calcutta. With opening stands of 72 and 103 (unbroken) their impact was immediate and they seemed to have solved India's quest for a successful opening pair. Mankad and Roy opened in the next Test and were less successful with partnerships of 39 and 7. The next time they opened together was against England in 1952. But after a partnership of 106 at Lord's, they fell away with successive stands of 7, 4, 7 and 0. They opened again in the first Test against Pakistan at New Delhi in 1952-53 but the partnership was restricted to 19. Madhav Apte briefly replaced Mankad as Roy's opening partner in the West Indies in 1953. And in Pakistan in 1955, it was the turn of PH Punjabi to partner Roy in the five Tests. It did seem that the Mankad- Roy pairing which promised so much initially was to be seen no more. But the premature discarding of Apte and the failure of Punjabi brought the two together again in the first Test against New Zealand at Hyderabad. With Roy departing for zero, the stand was restricted to just one run. Three other opening pairs (Mankad and Vijay Mehra, Nari Contractor and Mehra, Mankad and Contractor) were tried out in the next three Tests. For the final Test at the Corporation (later Nehru) stadium in Madras, Mankad and Roy were back again. And on a pleasant morning on January 6, with the pitch ideal for batting, the two walked out to open the innings after Polly Umrigar had won the toss. The New Zealand bowling had held no terrors for the Indians who had in successive Tests, knocked up scores of 498 for four declared, 421 for eight declared, 531 for seven declared and 438 for seven declared. John Hayes and Tony MacGibbon opened the bowling but Mankad and Roy, sizing up the bowling and the pitch, made runs comfortably. In support, New Zealand had the medium pacers of skipper Harry Cave, the off spin of John Reid and Matt Poore and the leg spin of AM Moir. With conditions heavily loaded in their favour, Mankad and Roy brought up their 100 and then the 200. But as SK Gurunathan reported in Indian Cricket almanac, "it was by no means the best knock played either by Mankad or by Roy. Both were hesitant in making their strokes but there was no lack of concentration and determination to stay at the wicket as long as possible. Mankad now and again played his rousing pull shot and the drive to the off but he rarely brought off his dazzling cuts." Roy won the race to the hundred. He had batted 262 minutes and had hit only six fours. Shortly afterwards the Indian record for the first wicket - the famous 203 run stand between Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali at Manchester in 1936 - was passed. Shortly before close, Mankad reached his hundred in 287 minutes with nine fours. At close, India were 234 for no loss with Roy on 114 and Mankad on 109. The two were the third pair of batsmen - and the first for India - to bat throughout a complete day's play in a Test match. The next day, the two continued from where they had left off. Mankad overtook Roy and stayed ahead. They were still together at lunch with the score now past 300 and now the sights were on 359 - the record for all Test cricket by Hutton and Washbrook against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1948-49. This too was passed and then came up the 400 which was followed by Mankad's double hundred - his second of the series. Hereabouts, so the story goes, Mankad and Roy received instructions from the pavilion to get on with it. Taking this as a hint that Umrigar wanted to make an early declaration, Roy tried to force the pace and was bowled by Poore for 173. The partnership which had realised 413 runs in 472 minutes was finally over. For the record, Mankad went on to get an Indian Test record score of 231, India went on to make a record total of 537 for three declared on their way to victory by an innings and 109 runs. Since then two pairs of opening batsmen have come very close to surpassing the figure of 413. At Bridgetown in 1965, Simpson and Lawry put on 382 runs for Australia against West Indies. Six years later at Georgetown, New Zealanders Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis put together a partnership of 387 runs against West Indies. But after 45 years, 413 still remains the mark to beat for opening pairs in Test cricket. http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/98839.html

[kabira]

Another article by Ramchand 44 years later still Indian cricket's proudest statistical achievement Partab Ramchand January 7, 2000 Text size: A | A The world record was notched up 44 years today. And it remains Indian cricket's proudest statistical achievement. Yes, Sunil Gavaskar's 34 Test centuries is still a world record and so is Kapil Dev's Test tally of 434 wickets. And both are no mean feats. But on sheer longevity - over 1000 Test matches have been played since then - as also the fact that it has been beyond the reach of the some of the most famous opening partners in the game's history - the 413-run first wicket stand between Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy, put together at the Corporation (Nehru stadium) in Madras against New Zealand on January 6 and 7, 1956 still remains the record to beat. It was the final Test of the five match series and India had already a 1-0 lead by their innings victory in the second Test at Bombay. A notable feature of the four matches had been the mastery of the Indian batting over the New Zealand bowling. Scores of 498 for 4 declared, 421 for 8 declared, 531 for 7 declared and 438 for 7 declared clearly showed that the visitors' bowling held no terrors for the Indian batsmen. Polly Umrigar and Vinoo Mankad had scored double hundreds while Vijay Manjrekar (118 and 177 not out), AG Kripal Singh (100 not out on debut), GS Ramchand (106 not out) and Pankaj Roy (100) all crossed the three digit mark. So when Polly Umrigar won the toss on a featherbed of a wicket (it was the first Test to be played at the Nehru stadium) it was taken for granted that India would run up another big total and there would possibly be a couple of hundreds more. None however could have bargained for what actually happened. For a start, Mankad and Roy batted throughout the opening day, becoming the first Indian pair - and only the third in 420 matches since 1877 - to bat throughout a day's play in a Test. It was a tremendous feat given the fact that while being established players, the two were not exactly the regular Indian opening pair. Roy and Mankad had first opened for India against England at Calcutta in 1951-52 and were an instant success with partnerships of 72 and 103*. In the next Test at Kanpur they shared partnerships of 39 and 7. They next opened in England in 1952 and had wretched luck. They started with an opening stand of 106 at Lord's, but in the remaining Tests their association was limited to 7, 4, 7 and 0. Back home they opened in the first Test against Pakistan at New Delhi and had a partnership of 19. Then with the selectors trying out new opening batsmen in Madhav Apte, DK Gaekwad and PH Punjabi, Mankad and Roy never got another chance at opening the innings till the first Test of the series against New Zealand. The partnership was restricted to one run and further new opening batsmen were tried in Vijay Mehra and Nari Contractor. For the final Test, Contractor was dropped down the order and the Mankad-Roy pairing was back. But as can be seen, their association so far had neither been a failure nor a success. Given this background, coming through unbeaten through a day's play was a commendable feat, even after accounting for the amiable nature of the bowling and the benign wicket. By close, India were 234 without loss, with Roy on 114 and Mankad on 109. Roy was the first to get to his 100 in 262 minutes with six fours. Shortly before close, Mankad got to his century in 287 minutes with nine fours. They had already surpassed the famous 203-run opening stand set up by Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali against England at Manchester in 1936. On the next day, the two batsmen continued in much the same vein making runs comfortably against the six man attack of Hayes, MacGibbon, Cave, Reid, Moir and Poore. Soon the runs were being ticked off with almost monotonous regularity. And one by one the landmarks were passed. First, Mankad's 150, then the 300 of the partnership, then Roy's 150 until finally shortly after lunch, the `big one' was passed - 359 by Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook for England against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1948-49, the highest first wicket partnership in Test cricket. Now it was only a question of how long the run feast would continue. Mankad crossed his 200 for the second time in the series, joining the ranks of Don Bradman and Wally Hammond as the others who had scored two double hundreds in the same series. Midway through the afternoon, the 400 came up. By now the runs were being scored with greater urgency and one sensed that Umrigar wanted an early declaration. At 413, Roy, while trying to boost the scoring rate, was bowled by Poore for 173 and it seemed like something contrary to nature had happened. Indeed, there seemed no reason to believe that the two could not carry on batting throughout a second successive day. The partnership lasted 472 minutes and remained the highest first wicket partnership in Indian first class cricket till 1977-78 when Roger Binny and Sanjay Desai put on 451 runs in the South Zone Ranji Trophy match against Kerala at Chikmagalur. Mankad went on to get 231, the highest score by an Indian in Tests, a record that stayed till Sunil Gavaskar made 236 not out against West Indies in 1983-84, also at Madras but at Chepauk. The Indians finished with 537 for three, their highest ever total in Test cricket and went on to win the match by an innings and 109 runs. But everything was overshadowed by the marathon opening partnership. The stand's greatness is best exemplified by the fact that though two opening pairs in 1965 and 1972 have threatened to surpass it, it has stood the test of time. In the first instance, Bobby Simpson and Bill Lawry put on 382 runs for Australia against West Indies at Bridgetown and seven years later, Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis were associated in a stand of 387 for New Zealand against West Indies at Georgetown. But the record still stands in the name of Mankad, who passed away in 1978 and Roy, now 71. As the survivor, the former Indian captain will no doubt remember this day in his Calcutta home with pride and a glint in his eye. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/87791.html

[Karan114]

Brilliant thread, kabira :two_thumbs_up:

[suraj]

I will visit this thread many many times

[Dark Warrior]

Superb thread! :two_thumbs_up:

[Sooda]

Cracking idea indeed. Reminds me of when on ICFever once there was an attempt to profile every player who played a test for India, in order of appearence. Not sure how far that got! Im sure this is far more realistic...:P

[nikred]

Could this have been the first chance for an Indian victory but for the weather. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62677.html This match is also noted for the Mankaded incident. :icflove: