On 25 June 1932 India played its first Test, against England at Lord's, captained by Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu after the Maharaja of Porbandar quietly stood aside on the morning of the match. India lost by 158 runs, but Mohammad Nissar took 5 for 93 with raw fast bowling, Amar Singh chipped in with 2/75 and 74 with the bat, and CK Nayudu stiffened the order. India had become the sixth Test-playing nation, after Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand.
The Bombay Quadrangular tournament had been the spine of Indian cricket since 1912. The Indian Cricket Control Board, formed 1928, had agitated for Test status; the MCC granted it in 1929 conditional on a tour. Several princely sponsors funded the trip; the Maharaja of Porbandar nominated himself captain.
The Maharaja, having scored single figures in most tour matches, withdrew on the morning of the Test. Limbdi was injured. CK Nayudu, the senior cricketer, took over. India fielded six Hindus, four Parsis, three Muslims and a Sikh — a snapshot of the country's pre-Partition cricket landscape.
India had been admitted to the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1926 and granted Test status in 1929 with a tour to follow. The 1932 squad was assembled under the patronage of the Maharaja of Porbandar, a generous administrator and modest cricketer who realised before the Test that he should not pick himself; the vice-captain, the Ghanshyamsinhji of Limbdi, also withdrew through injury, and the captaincy passed to Nayudu, the most respected cricketer in India.
England, captained by Douglas Jardine in his first Test as captain, won the toss and chose to bat. Nissar, opening the bowling at fast-medium with a long, classical run, had Sutcliffe bowled by a ball that kept low and Holmes caught behind early; England were 3 for 19 before Hammond and Jardine added 82. Amar Singh swung the ball both ways and had Hammond caught for 35. England recovered to 259, with the Indian quicks sharing seven wickets between them.
India replied with 189; Nayudu top-scored with 40, Amar Singh punished the short ball for 35. England's second innings of 275/8 declared set a chase of 346. India fell for 187, Amar Singh making a fluent 51 in his country's first Test innings as a Test nation. England won by 158 runs, but Wisden's report noted, 'India's bowling was distinctly above the average; their batting needs more experience of English wickets.'
Porbandar withdraws; Nayudu captains in India's first Test.
Nissar bowls Sutcliffe early; England 3/19.
Hammond 35 c Amar Singh; Hammond and Jardine rebuild.
England 259; Nissar 5/93 in his first Test innings.
Nayudu top-scores 40 in India's reply of 189.
Amar Singh 51 in India's second innings.
England win by 158; India formally a Test nation.
1929
India granted Test status by the ICC.
Jun 1932
Tour begins; Porbandar leads in early matches.
25 Jun 1932
Nayudu captains India in Lord's Test.
27 Jun
England win by 158; India a Test nation.
“India's bowling was distinctly above the average.”
“He was an ornament to the game, and his country's first Test captain.”
India would not host a home Test for another 18 months; the next Indian tour to England was scheduled for 1936. CK Nayudu was confirmed as India's first Test captain. Nissar and Amar Singh were spoken of as world-class quicks for the rest of the decade. Wisden named Amar Singh and Nissar as among the best fast-medium pairs in world cricket.
India arrived as a Test nation, lost the match but won the respect — Nissar and Amar Singh were already a fast-bowling pair to be feared, and Nayudu's captaincy steadied a side built largely from princely patronage.
The 1932 Lord's Test is the founding stone of Indian Test cricket. Every Indian captain — from Pataudi Sr to Kohli — traces a direct line of office back to CK Nayudu and 25 June 1932. Lord's now displays a small honours board entry recording India's debut.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.