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In 1974, India had a bizarre day in the office when they were bowled out for a then lowest total in Test cricket.
It was the second Test of the series at the Lord’s after England won the first at Old Trafford, Manchester. England posted a monumental score of 626 after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. Bishan Singh Bedi was a stand-out bowler with the figures of 226/6.
Riding on half-centuries from Farokh Engineer (86) and Gundappa Vishwanath (52), India managed to tickle the scoreboard to a score of 302 in the first innings. Sunil Gavaskar (49) and Eknath Solkar (43) made decent contributions as well.
But the Indian team could not avoid the follow-on and hence, were put to bat again by the Englishmen. No one predicted the collapse of India's Indian batting line-up the way it did that day.
The England bowlers shot out India’s second innings for just 42 and wrapped up the game in style. Solkar, with an unbeaten 18, was the only Indian batter who managed to score in double figures. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar did not come to bat as he was injured.
Fiery spells of 5/21 and 4/19 by Chris Old and Geoff Arnold made sure that India’s innings did not last for more than 17 overs and 77 minutes. England won the match by an innings and 285 runs.
“The ball didn’t do as much in the air as everybody thought, but it certainly went off the pitch; Obviously what happened was that it had sweated under the covers overnight and greened up just enough to give the ball the sort of purchase I needed. It was amazing really. Just one of those days," Arnold said later.
Gavaskar said it was simply that “Arnold and Old bowled five good bowls which got our five top batsman out. After that there was no resistance from the tailenders.”
The Indian team was in very good form coming to England for the three-match Test series and two-match ODI contest. Unfortunately, India lost all five of the scheduled matches. Blamed for his team’s poor showing, Indian captain Ajit Wadekar retired from Test cricket after the tour.
