Lala Amarnath: Facts and Feats
Lala Amaranath's Test career spanned twenty seasons from 1933-34 to 1952-53
HR Gopalakrishna
08-Aug-2000
Lala Amaranath's Test career spanned twenty seasons from 1933-34 to
1952-53. He made his Test debut under the leadership of Col. CK Nayudu
at Gymkhana Ground, Bombay in the first ever Test match played in
India, against England, in the 1933-34 series. He made
his debut along with four other cricketers, LP Jai, RJD Jameshedji, VM
Merchant and L Ramji. Lala wrote himself into the record books by
making a second innings hundred, 118 to be precise, to become the
first Indian batsman to register a Test hundred. In the first
innings he had scored 38.
To recall his performance on test debut with the mode of dismissal
First innings :: lbw b Nichols 38 Second innings :: c Nichols b Clarke 118
With the leather, he bowled just two overs for two runs without capturing a wicket.
In the company of his skipper CK Nayudu, he added 186 runs for the
third wicket after India had lost two wickets cheaply for 21 runs in
their second innings. Nayudu made 67 in the three figure partnership, the first ever for India in the annals of Test cricket.
This Test had other highlights also, being the first ever
which included play on a Sunday. L Amar
Singh and L Ramji achieve the distinction of becoming the first pair of brothers to represent India. Valentine of England, also making his Test debut, scored 136.
Apart from his only Test hundred, Lala has scored four fifties,
which are listed as under
01 50 in SI at Lord's Vs England 1946 02 62 in FI at Delhi Vs West Indies 1948-49 03 58* in SI at Bombay Vs West Indies 1948-49 04 61* in SI at Lucknow Vs Pakistan 1952-53
He has captured five plus wickets twice which are listed thus
01 5-118 in FI at Lord's Vs England 1946 02 5-96 in FI at Manchester Vs England 1946
Lala became the first Indian allrounder to register a fifty and
capture five wickets in an innings in the same Test match. At Lord's against England in 1946, he captured five wickets conceding 118 runs in
England's first innings. His victims were
L Hutton c Nayudu b Amarnath 07 C Washbrook c Mankad b Amarnath 27 DCS Compton b Amarnath 00 WR Hammond b Amarnath 33 TF Smailes c Mankad b Amarnath 25
After being dismissed without scoring in the first innings - leg
before wicket to AV Bedser, he made an exact fifty in the second innings
batting at number 8, before he was bowled by Smailes.
Lala's feat had an added
charisma to it, being achieved at Lord's, the Mecca of cricket.
He returned five for 118 at Lord's after bowling a marathon 57
overs, becoming the second Indian bowler to bowl 50 plus overs
in a Test innings, after Amar Singh at Calcutta in 1933-34.
However his best bowling effort in an innings and in a match was reserved for the next Test at Manchester, reading as under.
First innings 51 Overs 17 maidens 96 runs 5 wickets Second innings 30 Overs 09 maidens 71 runs 3 wickets
His total aggregate of eight wickets for 167 runs was his best match
bowling effort, while his 5 wickets for 96 runs remains the best
innings bowling effort.
Lala's career Test statistics read thus
Tests 24
Innings 40
Not outs 04
Runs 878
Highest Score 118
Average 24.38
Fifties 04
Centuries 01
Catches 13
Wickets 45
Runs 1481
Average 32.91
Best innings effort 5-96
Five wickets 02
Ten wickets 00
Best Match effort 8-167
Lala led India in 15 Tests of which he won two, lost six and drew seven. He won the toss in only four Tests. He led India in five Tests
each against Australia, West Indies and Pakistan. Lala is the first
Indian captain to lead the country in ten or more Tests. He was the
fourth Indian captain to lead India, after CK Nayudu, Maharaj Kumar
of Vizianagaram and Iftiqar Ali Khan Pataudi.
Lala represented five states in Ranji Trophy - Punjab, Gujarat,
Patiala, Uttar Pradesh and Railways. Indian Cricket records his performance in Ranji Trophy thus
Matches 41 Innings 57 Not outs 02 Runs 2162 Highest 155* Average 39.31 Balls 9138 Maidens 558 Runs 2738 Wickets 190 Average 14.41
Rajinder Pal who made his Test debut along with Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
against England at Bombay in 1963-64, encountered me with a question on Lala: What is so
special about Lala's appearances in Ranji Trophy? I was spot on to answer him that
he has played for five states, the first to do so in Ranji Trophy.
Rajinder Pal was to say that the answer was half correct and gave me
the correct answer, that Lala not only played for five states, but
captained them too! A great tribute for Lala and I stood corrected,
courtesy, Rajinder Pal.
Lala's first class career spanned from 1929 to 1963 and his career
figures as recorded in The Wisden Book of Cricket Records read thus
Innings 281 Not outs 33 Runs 10323 Highest 262 Average 41.62 Centuries 31
Lala was the first Indian batsman to register centuries in each
innings on English soil. Representing Indians against Essex at Brent
Wood in 1936, he made 130 and 107.
Lala scored four double hundreds in his first class career, which are
listed thus
241 Hindus Vs Rest Bombay 1938-39 262 India in England Vs Rest of India Calcutta 1946-47 228* Indians Vs Victoria Melbourne 1947-48 223* North Zone Vs West Indians Patiala 1948-49
Lala scored 1000 plus runs in a season in Australia. He shared this
distinction with Vijay Hazare in 1947-48 season. The exploits of these
two Indian batsmen, who remain the only two batsmen to aggregate
1000 plus runs in a season in Australia read as under;
Lala Amarnath
Innings 23
Not outs 03
Runs 1162
Highest 228*
Average 58.10
Hundreds 05
Vijay Hazare
Innings 23
Not outs 01
Runs 1056
Highest 145
Average 48.00
Hundreds 04
Lala has scored 1000 plus in a domestic season also. The details of his
feat read thus
Season 1935-36 Innings 21 Not outs 03 Runs 1071 Highest 149* Average 59.50 Hundreds 02
Lala's name appears as the sixth bowler in the world who has captured
four wickets in an innings without conceding a run. The complete list
reads thus
Sir FHH Bathurst 2 2 0 4 Eng Vs Kent, Lord's 1843 JR Napier 3.2 3 0 4 Lancashire Vs Yorkshire at Sheffield 1888 A Hearne 5 5 0 4 Kent Vs Somerset Taunton 1893 AF Bortland 0.5 0 0 4 Natal Vs Griqualand West Kimberley 1926-27 LC Eastman 2.1 2 0 4 Essex Vs Somerset Weston-s-Mare 1934 L Amarnath 7 7 0 4 Railways Vs Patiala Patiala 1958-59
Lala's feat of 7-7-0-4 is the only instance of an Indian bowler
capturing four wickets without conceding a run.
Lala had another outstanding bowling analysis in his first class
career. Playing for Southern Punjab against Patiala at Patiala, in
1938-39, he captured four wickets conceding two runs in seven overs.
His 7-7-0-4 in 1958-59 was an improvement
over his figures of 7-5-2-4 in 1938-39. An interesting observation is
that both the feats were achieved against Patiala at Patiala.
Lala turned out for India in unofficial Tests too and his career
figures in these read as under:
Matches 12 Runs 695 Average 31.59 Highest 123 Centuries 02 Fifties 02 Catches 05 Wickets 14 Average 25.07 Five wkts 00 Ten wkts 00 Best Bowling 3-41
He breathed his last
on 05.08.2000, living an exact 88 years 11 months and 24 days, his
date of birth being 11.09.1911.