On this day, December 17, 1933: Lala Amarnath scored India’s first ever Test century. The Indian captain took on the English bowlers with exceptional precision and hit 21 boundaries on his way to 118 runs before Nichols got his wicket. Though it did not come in a winning cause, the legendary Lala Amarnath engraved his name in the record books.
India opted to bat first and lost wickets in quick succession. After Indian openers Syed Wazir Ali and Janardan Navle stitched together a 44-run stand, captain Lala Amarnath came to the crease and scored a quintessential 38 runs. During his knock, he forged a 27-run stand with Ali, a 46-run partnership with C.K. Nayudu and a short 18-run stand with Laxmidas Jai. Amarnath remained the highest scorer for Team India in the first innings. India were bowled out for 219 runs in their first innings, as England’s Stan Nichols, Hedley Verity and James Langridge all took three-wicket hauls.
Though Indian bowler Mohammad Nissar had removed England opener Arthur Mitchell early in the innings, a 55-run stand between Cyril Walters and Charlie Barnett steadied things for England. Later middle-order batsmen kept getting good starts with James Langride (31 runs) and captain Douglas Jardine (60) building a solid foundation for the visitors. Bryan Valentine’s 136-run knock took England’s score out of India’s equation as they scored 438 runs to take a further 219-run lead.
India’s best bowler was Nissar, took five-wicket while Rustomji Jamshedji also picked up three wickets. However, the Indian batsmen terribly failed to capitalise on the opportunity, and apart from captain Amarnath’s gritty 118-run knock, middle-order batsmen C.K. Nayudu (60), Vijay Merchant (30) and Sorabji Colah (12) were the only ones to reach double figures.
India fared slightly better than the first innings, managing 258 runs and handing England a target of 40. England chased down 40 runs in 7.2 overs to win the match by nine wickets. Unfortunately, this was Amarnath’s only Test century as he was dropped for the Indian team in 1936. Amarnath was called back to captain India 12 years later post independence as he became the first captain to lead an independent Indian team on foreign soil. Lala Amarnath was also India’s first captain to win the first-ever Test series win, which came against Pakistan during their 1952-53 tour.
