पराक्रमो विजयते ।
Translation- Courageous will win.
On this day, in 1952, a dream came to fruition, which we saw in 1932. 20 long years and 24 test matches. Seems like eternity, right? But "देर आए, दुरुस्त आए". The ascension started on that particular day and we have never looked back since.
It was the fifth test match of the five test series and we were trailing 1-0. We made five changes- stalwarts like Vijay Manjrekar and CS Nayudu were dropped and Mushtaq Ali, Lala Amarnath were brought in. Donald Carr won the toss and decided to bat. India struck early, but England managed to recover from that and they were able to survive Mankad's brilliance. At stumps, they were 224 for 5. During the day's play, King George VI passed away and the next day was declared a rest day.
When play resumed, it was all about Mankad spinning a web and the English batsmen looked hapless. He ended up with 8 wickets and the English folded at 266 from 244/5. India was buoyed up by Mankad's herculean effort and it showed in Pankaj Roy's fluent stroke play. Mushtaq Ali, Hazare and Mankad chipped in with crucial 20s, before Umrigar took the reins from Roy. Roy departed after scoring an incredible 100.
Umrigar was demoted to number 7 as he was struggling before this test match. He had a point to prove and he chose the perfect moment to do it. He and Phadkar irked the English bowlers and their partnership crossed 100 within no time. Umrigar who was a sturdy young man, had a mean pull shot. It was an exhibition of sorts to see Umrigar in full swing. The partnership was 104, when Hilton castled Phadkar and the wristy Gopinath walked in. Umrigar stitched another crucial partnership with Gopinath, who scored a hard fought 35. After Gopinath's departure, Umrigar decided to take matters into his own hands. He was 130 undefeated when Hazare decided that they had enough on the board and India declared at 457/9, leading by 194 runs.
In the second innings, English could never apply themselves because they were clueless against Ghulam and Mankad who took 4 wickets each and the English were bundled out for 186, which was 8 short of the deficit and Madras erupted with joy. India had arrived on the big stage. By the end of 1952, we had won our first test series against Pakistan.
However, no rewards were announced for the lads and they had to content with their match fees of Rs 250. In the next few months, Mankad was humiliated by the BCCI informing him that his place in the team wasn't confirmed and India could produce 10 spinners like him. He scored 223 runs and took 34 wickets in the series.
CD Gopinath is the only surviving member of that team.
