The failure of the Indian cricket team to get victory against West Indies in 1948-49, paved the way for its first ever Test win in its history in the year of 1952, when India defeated England at Chepauk. It was a great occasion for the Indian team, as it outplayed the mighty England team in all the departments of the game in the match. Legendary Indian cricketers like Vinoo Mankad, Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar contributed most in India`s first Test win in 1952. Both Roy and Umrigar scored their individual centuries in the match to give India a huge lead in the first innings and Mankad ramped thorough the England batting line up to end restrict both their innings shortly.
The England cricket team came on the tour of India, with Nigel Howard as their captain for a five-Test series, and the Indian cricket enthusiasts were eagerly hoping to see something great from the Indian players in the series. Both the teams of India, led by Vijay Hazare, and England fought equally with each other throughout the series, as the firs, third and the fourth match of the series were drawn. The England team did well to win the second Test at Kanpur, and was leading the series 1-0, before the start of the fifth and final Test match.
However, the Indian players were not in a mood to give up the fight against England in the final Test, in spite of lagging behind in the series and the Indian bowlers put on an impressive performance to restrict England for only 266 runs in the first innings. Vinoo Mankad was the star for India, as he achieved a figure of 8-55 in England`s first innings to cause most of the damages to England. Batting in their first innings, the Indian batsmen started on a very positive note and continued to play their own shots and put on a huge pressure on the English bowlers. With the help of brilliant centuries from Pankaj Roy (111) and Polly Umrigar (130), India got a mammoth total of 457 runs in its first innings. India also got a huge lead of 191 runs over England in the first innings.
The Indian bowlers continued their tremendous form in the second innings of England, as well and Mankad became the star player for India once again. His figure of 4-53 helped India a lot to get all the England batsmen out for a mere score of only 183 runs, and history was made, as India won the Test by an innings and 8 runs. It was 10th February, 1952, when India achieved their first ever victory in Test cricket, in its cricket history. Apart from Mankad, Roy and Umrigar, the other two legendary cricketers like Ghulam Ahmed and Probir Sen also made their own contributions to India`s first Test win. It was also for the fist time that India became successful to keep the Test series drawn 1-1, against England. It was definitely the most memorable moment in Indian cricket, a moment that the Indian people will always cherish in their mind.
