24th August is a very special day in the history of Indian cricket. 53 years ago, in 1971, on this day, the Indian team created history on English soil. India then defeated England by 4 wickets in the Oval Test match, which was its first Test win against the English on their soil. Along with the historic win, the Indian team was also successful in achieving its first series win on English soil.
The first two matches were drawn, then at the Oval…
Before this, India had played 21 Tests in England, out of which it lost 15 and 6 matches were drawn. India had toured England in 1971 for a three-Test series. The team had senior batsmen like Gundappa Vishwanath and Dilip Sardesai. Sunil Gavaskar was also in the team, for whom this was only his second foreign tour. In that tour, India’s spin trio of Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrashekhar and S. Venkataraghavan emerged as heroes.
The first Test match of the series was played at Lord’s, which was a draw. Whereas in the Old Trafford Test, India was saved by rain. Actually, on the fourth day of that Test, while chasing a huge target of 420 runs, India lost 3 wickets for 65 runs, then it rained and further play could not take place. Then the Indian team reached the Oval for the last Test.
In the Oval Test match, England scored 355 runs in their first innings. However, in response, the Indian team was all out for 284 runs, giving hosts England a lead of 71 runs. After this, the Indian team made a strong comeback. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar’s spin was such that England’s second innings was all out for 101 runs. Chandrasekhar took 6 wickets for 38 runs. After this, India successfully achieved the target of 173 runs by losing 6 wickets. With this, India created history by winning that Oval Test by 4 wickets.
The Indian team got this historic victory under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. In that series against England, captain Ajit Wadekar scored the most runs, 204, for India. While the spin trio of Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, S. Venkataraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi took 13, 13 and 11 wickets respectively.
Wadekar rocked his captaincy
This is the same Ajit Wadekar who was given the command of the team in place of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi in January 1971. Under the leadership of Wadekar, India won the series for the first time on Caribbean soil in the same year i.e. in April 1971. Then in the 5 Test match series, India achieved a memorable 1-0 victory over West Indies.
Ajit Wadekar was the first Indian captain under whose captaincy India won three consecutive Test series. Under his captaincy, India defeated West Indies 1-0 (5) and England 1-0 (3) in 1971. Then in 1972-73, under Wadekar’s captaincy, India defeated England 2-1 (5) at home. That is, under Wadekar’s captaincy, India collected double the tax from the British. Wadekar was the first captain under whose captaincy India won Test series in West Indies and England.