by Abhishek Mukherjee
BCCI had been formed in 1929. The reins of Indian first tour to feature a Test match, in England in 1932, was being keenly contested by Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala, and Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju, Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram.
Vizzy, who allied himself with Lord Willingdon, then Viceroy of India, offered to sponsor the tour, seemed to hold the cards at one point, but Patiala pulled one back by organising the entire trials in his kingdom, hosting every member, for an entire month. It was a no-contest after that.
Patiala was the initial choice for captain, but when he announced his unavailability, Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji, the Maharaja of Porbandar, was named captain. Ghanshyamsinhji Daulatsinhji Jhala, Kumar Shri of Limbdi and Porbandar's brother-in-law, was vice-captain. Joginder Singh, an employee under Patiala, was also part of the squad.
What about Vizzy? He had to be fitted in – and offered an important position. So he was named deputy vice-captain. He opted out, but would return to England four years later – as an autocratic captain.
India had an impressive tour, winning 9 and losing 8 First-Class matches (13-9 in all matches), an excellent show for any team on their first Test tour.
Porbandar was aware of his limited cricketing skills. He played just four matches on the tour and scored two. And when they played the Test, he opted out (as did both Limbdi and Joginder). Nayudu was the obvious choice.
Unfortunately, while some Indians of the era had no problem in being led by a member of the royal family, they were not comfortable with "one of them" (a commoner, to put it simply) being a captain. This, despite Nayudu being the best cricketer of the squad (he would be named Wisden Cricketer of the Year) and a more or less universally acknowledged leader.
This might have arisen due to the fact that the cricketers rarely played alongside (or against) each other – perhaps in the Pentangular but not much else on a regular basis. And while he had led some of them, Nayudu was an authoritarian leader. He was not on the greatest of terms with some, like Amar Singh and Sorabji Colah.
So a group of cricketers woke Porbandar up well after midnight, requesting him to lead them in the Test match due to start in a few hours' time. Some preferred Wazir Ali, a favourite of Patiala's. Had Patiala been on the tour, Wazir might indeed have led them.
Now Porbandar might not have been much of a cricketer, but he did know how to handle situations involving people. He did what was necessary.
India's first 11 Test caps read Amar Singh, Sorabji Colah, Jahangir Khan, Lall Singh, Naoomal Jaoomal, Janardan Navle, CK Nayudu, Nazir Ali, Mohammad Nissar, Phiroze Palia, and Wazir Ali.
Lord's 25 June 1932. We know the rest.