In the post-independence era, India has played seven matches at the Old Trafford
India has a historic connection with the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester, England that dates back to 1936 when the team played its first match on this venue. However, since then, India has played only eight more games, taking the total tally to a mere nine.
Out of this nine, two were played before independence and the remaining seven after India gained its freedom. These seven games saw six different captains and out of these six captains, only one had the opportunity to lead India twice at Old Trafford.
In 1971, the late Ajit Wadekar took over India’s captaincy from the reign of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. His first task was an away series in West Indies followed by several more away tours. In short, from the moment Wadekar accepted the captain’s badge, pressure became his constant companion. To everybody’s surprise, Wadekar won India’s maiden away series in West Indies, marking India’s finest hour in Test cricket despite being an underdog side.
Next up was Wadekar’s boys in England, 1971. India started the Test series of three matches with a draw at the Lord’s followed by another draw in Manchester’s Old Trafford. To be honest, Wadekar’s performance with the willow was well below par but nonetheless, India drew the first two games.
In the third game, India pulled a rabbit out of the hat despite being behind England in the first innings. Wadekar had scored 48 and 45 but the real star of the game at the Lord’s was Bhagwath Chandrasekhar who picked six wickets for 38 – India won the game, registering its first away Test series victory on English soil.
Three years later in 1974, India failed to repeat its feat achieved in England. The game at Old Trafford turned out to be humiliating as India lost by 113 runs. Wadekar’s performance with the bat was poor as he scored merely 20 runs across both innings. Sunil Gavaskar had hit 101 and 58 in the first and second innings, respectively but they weren’t enough to save the game.
Wadekar as India’s Test captain led the team in 16 matches, winning four, losing four and drawing six. However, his captaincy was short because after taking the reigns in 1971 and winning in West Indies, the 3-0 defeat at the hands of England in 1974 broke him as a player. Wadekar not only resigned but retired from international cricket.
Ajit Wadekar was a Test player, having played 37 matches and scoring 2,423 runs.
