Today is the 37th anniversary of India winning the ODI World Cup.
Not only that.
We have another reason to celebrate this day in cricketing history.
25th June 1932 marks the day India made its first foray into the world of test cricket. 👇🏾
The events of June 25th 1932 would not have taken place if not for C. K. Nayudu.
He is largely responsible for us Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand as the sixth test playing nation in the world.
The British brought cricket to India. Despite being trashed by the villagers in Champaner in the 1890s, they kept playing.
The Parsis were early adopters and tried to use the game to establish closer relations with the British.
The Parsis' request for a game against the colonial masters was accepted in 1877 and a two day game was organized.
The Parsi team surprised the British by taking the first innings lead. However, the game ended in a draw.
The Parsis were entrepreneurial and pooled in resources to go on cricket trips to England in 1886 and 1888.
While largely unsuccessful, they did initiate reciprocal tours from English teams to India.
One such tour was organized in 1926.
The MCC team was led by Arthur Gilligan who had made his test debut in 1922 and was made the English team captain in 1924. The team had test cricketers like Maurice Tate, Andrew Sandham and a future England captain Bob Wyatt.
Gilligan's MCC squad played in Bombay in 1926.
There was a lot of excitement for the game with nearly 25,000 at the Bombay Gymkhana (which would later be India’s first ever test ground).
In reply to MCC’s first innings score of 363, The Hindus were reduced to 84 for 3.
C.K. Nayudu, by now a crowd favourite wherever he went in India, strode to the crease.The MCC team so used to steam rolling opponents was in for a shock.
Nayudu produced a dazzling display of batting, not respecting the prowess of luminaries like Maurice Tate, Jack Mercer, Bob Wyatt and Stuart Boyes.
He scored a scintillating 153 which contained 11 sixes, a world record at the time for most number of sixes in an innings.
This innings transformed Indian cricket.
Previously known only as cannon fodder to English players to improve their averages, Indian cricket took a giant leap that day. All thanks to CK Nayudu.
The Indians scored 356 and drew the game.
Arthur Gilligan was so impressed by C.K. Nayudu that he became a strong proponent of Indian cricket and lobbied for test status for India.
Gilligan encouraged Indians to take more initiative in running their own cricketing affairs.
This resulted in a governing body that was formed in 1928 that we now know as the Board of Cricket Control in India @BCCI
India toured England in 1932 to play our first test. Nayudu played a major part in selecting the team. At that time, Indian cricket needed the patronage of the royals who bore the expenss. Maharaja of Porbandar was made the captain and Ghanshyamsinhji of Limbdi was vice-captain.
The Maharaja of Porbandar withdrew on account of poor health and Limbdi suffered a back injury.
The invisible hand of destiny ensured that CK Nayudu, chiefly responsible for India’s test status, became our first captain.
Here is Nayudu leading the team onto the ground.
India started their debut well and had England down 19/3. The more experienced English team weathered the storm and put on 259.
Nayudu had injured his his hand while fielding and still persevered to top score with 40. India managed 189 before losing to the English by 158 runs.
C.K. Nayudu was the first superstar of Indian cricket. The man who the crowds adored, the man who uplifted Indian cricket and the man who every future Indian cricketer aspires to be.
BCCI has constituted its lifetime achievement award in his name.
Those in Indore, please go touch the feet of CK Nayudu's statue there for good karma.
The rest of you, kindly retweet this lovely thread researched and written by @paap_singer
A trip from Mysore to Bangalore is simply incomplete without indulging in the mouthwatering Maddur Vada in Maddur.
In 1938, the town of Shivapura in Maddur proudly hoisted the Indian national flag, leaving an indelible mark on India's freedom struggle!
A thread🧵
In 1938, The Indian National Congress held its session in Haripura village in Surat, Gujarat.
The session was presided by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. At a time when hoisting the national flag was banned by the British, the Indian flag was hoisted at the Haripura session!
The Haripura Congress session where the tricolor was hoisted, inspired the Mysore leaders to hold a similar event!
But, the administration in Mysore got a whiff of these plans & banned public gathering. This did not stop leaders like Siddalingaiah & others
Arun Shourie once called the BJP government policies Congress plus Cow. During the first ever election in 1952, Congress had a pair of bullocks as its election symbol.
It is because of this lady from Tamil Nadu that the Congress Party has the hand as a symbol. 🧵
The very first elections took place in 1952. Given that the large portion of the population were illiterate, Sukumar Sen, India's first chief election commissioner decided on symbols to identify each party.
The congress party chose a pair of bullocks as its symbol.
Even during Nehru's time, there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the "Kamraj Plan". It required Congress Leaders to give up government posts, in order to strengthen the party.
K Kamraj realized that the party was losing its vigor and resigned from his post as CM of Madras to focus on rebuilding the party.
Jamnagar these days is famous for being the epicenter of Reliance industries and for welcoming the who's who of the world for a pre-wedding.
But in 1942, it played a significant role in saving over 1000 Polish children from certain death in WW2.
A thread 🧵
In 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland which started World War 2. Some Poles tried to escape the wrath of the Germans by moving into Soviet territory.
The Soviet authorities forced hundreds of thousands of Poles to migrate deeper into Soviet territory, including Siberia.
The invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany in 1941 prompted the USSR to declare an amnesty, resulting in the liberation of these Polish exiles. They were asked to find refuge themselves.
They embarked on arduous journeys to various destinations.
"Except for cricketers, poets, and singers, others found it relatively hard to come to India."
This was director John Mathew Matthan's rationale for portraying a ghazal singer as the villain!
25 years ago, crime drama changed forever with the release of Sarfarosh!
A Thread 🧵
John Matthew Matthan was an ad-film director, and "Sarfarosh" was his debut. But, he was an assistant to Govind Nihalani in Nihalani's first film "Aakrosh" and in "Gandhi," where Nihalani was the cinematographer!
He met Naseeruddin Shah on the sets of Aakrosh!
Aamir Khan's rationale to work with a debutant was as follows:
"When I read the script, I realized the social implications of what the film was trying to say (...) I reacted emotionally to it because of what I had been going through as an Indian, it talked of Hindus & Muslims living together."