Page 6 - Seniorstoday December 2022 Issue

Cover Story

Courtesy: www.sportskeeda.com

Indian cricket’s 10 flop

shows in the last 50 years

Ayaz Memon traverses down some forgettable downsides of India’s history
in men’s cricket

42 All Out v England at Lord’s, 1974. Lost After creating history in 1971 by winning
Test by innings and 285 runs a series in England for the first time, India
went on the 1974 tour holding out the rich
promise of an encore. Ajit Wadekar was
still captain and most members of the 1971
winning team were in the squad. But the
results were disastrous.
India were whitewashed 0-3, the worst
performance coming at Lord’s where the
team was shockingly bowled out for 42 in
the second innings. The highest run scorer
was Eknath Solka with an undefeated 18,
the other 10 batsmen mustering a mere 24
runs between them
In the aftermath of the humiliating defeat,
Wadekar not only quit the captaincy but
retired from the game Indian cricket was at
the crossroads. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi,
who had been displaced from the job in
1971 by chief selector Vijay Merchant’s

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