Lala Amarnath became Independent India's first Test captain when he led the tour party to Australia in November 1947, only weeks after Partition. Vijay Merchant's withdrawal had thrown the captaincy open; Amarnath was confirmed by the new Indian Cricket Board ahead of departure. India lost the series 0-4, but Amarnath's personal contributions — 228 not out v Victoria and 172 not out v Queensland — and his courteous handling of Bradman's century moment at Sydney made him a popular figure on tour.
Amarnath had scored India's first Test hundred (118 v England, Bombay 1933) and had a turbulent 1936 tour of England under the Maharaj of Vizianagram, from which he was sent home. By 1947 he was 36, married into a Punjabi family that had lost relatives at Partition, and Indian cricket's senior professional.
India's first independent tour was a logistical and emotional ordeal. The squad assembled in Bombay at the end of August 1947; Partition violence had displaced or killed several relatives of Amarnath, Vinoo Mankad and Abdul Hafeez Kardar. Vijay Merchant withdrew citing health; Mushtaq Ali also pulled out. Amarnath, with one Test as captain (a victory over Australia at Sydney would have been his first), was confirmed by the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram.
The tour proper began at Perth in late October. Australia, with Bradman returning, were too strong: India lost the first Test by an innings and 226, the third by 233 runs, the fourth by an innings and 16, and the fifth by an innings and 177. The drawn second Test was rain-saved.
Amarnath himself struggled in the Tests (140 runs at 14, 13 wickets) but his tour averages were respectable: 1,162 first-class runs at 38.73 and 36 wickets. His most-cited moment was passing the ball to Gogumal Kishenchand for the over in which Bradman reached his 100th first-class hundred at Sydney — a courtesy Bradman acknowledged for years afterwards.
End Aug 1947 — squad assembles; Merchant withdraws
Nov 1947 — Amarnath gives Kishenchand the over for Bradman's 100th 100
28 Nov 1947 — first Test, Brisbane: India lose by innings + 226
5-9 Dec — second Test, Sydney: drawn (rain)
Jan 1948 — Adelaide; Hazare 116, 145; India lose by innings + 16
Feb 1948 — fifth Test, Melbourne: India lose by innings + 177; series 0-4
Aug 1947
Confirmed captain after Merchant withdrawal
Oct 1947
Squad sails for Australia
Nov 1947
Bradman 100th 100 episode at SCG
Feb 1948
Series ends 0-4
Amarnath returned to India to find his captaincy contested. He played one further Test series, against the West Indies in 1948-49, before the Vizianagram-led board moved to other captains. He coached India to its first Test win over England in 1952.
A captain on whose shoulders fell the unhappy task of taking a freshly-partitioned India into a series against the Invincibles. The 0-4 result was inevitable; Amarnath's grace under it was not.
Amarnath's status as Independent India's first Test captain is permanent. His courteous handling of the Kishenchand over is regularly retold; his statue stands at the Patiala Cricket Ground.
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.