by Abhishek Mukherjee

The Indians impressed on their first ever Test tour of England, in 1932, but handling Larwood and Voce at Trent Bridge was another story altogether. Bodyline was still over a year away, but they had been wreaking havoc with their pace in the Championship.

Not only did they intimidate batsmen, Larwood and Voce had the habit of betting on whether they could knock out their batsmen of choice.

The Indians did well, Amar Singh leading the way with 7/55 as they bowled out Nottinghamshire for 188, but Voce left left them reeling at 113/8. The next day, a Sunday, was the rest day.

Now, before play resumed on Monday, Sam Staples placed a bet with Larwood. He offered Larwood "a packet of smokes" if he could knock the turban of Joginder Singh, the No. 10 batsman. Another variation mentions Voce instead of Staples, the wager being "a pint of beer or a packet of fags".

Whatever it was, a few minutes into Monday's play, Larwood unleashed one of those famous bouncers. Joginder got no time to move. The ball lifted the turban, deflecting it towards the slips.

Larwood could have stopped at that, but he did not. He continued to bounce till Joginder, hit on the face, left the field, covering his bloodied cheek with a piece of cloth.

This happened on 4 July 1932.