Indian cricket team in Australia in 1947–48
| Indian cricket team in Australia, 1947-48 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 17 October 1947 – 20 February 1948 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | Australia won the 5-Test series 4-0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Australia
|
 India
|
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| Captains | |||
| Don Bradman | Lala Amarnath | ||
| Most runs | |||
|
Don Bradman (715) Lindsay Hassett (332) Arthur Morris (209) |
Vijay Hazare (429) Dattu Phadkar (314) Vinoo Mankad (306) |
||
| Most wickets | |||
|
Ray Lindwall (18) Bill Johnston (16) Ian Johnson (16) |
Lala Amarnath (13) Vinoo Mankad (12) Dattu Phadkar (8) |
||
The India national cricket team toured Australia in the 1947–48 season to play a five-match Test series against Australia. Australia won the series 4-0, with one match drawn.
This was India's inaugural tour of Australia and it was also the first tour by a team representing the newly independent India. Independence had been finalised only two months before the tour began.
As evident from the scoreline, the Australian team greatly outclassed the Indians, who had some good individual performances to their credit. However, they did not put up much resistance as a team, with their batting failing to make any impression on the Australians. The only silver lining for India in terms of match results was their two victories in the First Class Matches.
The manager was Pankaj Gupta.
Four of the originally selected players were unavailable: Vijay Merchant (who had been appointed captain), Mushtaq Ali, Fazal Mahmood and Rusi Modi. Rai Singh, Rangachari, Ranvirsinhji and Sarwate replaced them.
In addition to the Test series, the tourists played nine other first-class matches against Western Australia (2 games - the tour opener and the last game of the tour); South Australia; Victoria; New South Wales; Australia XI; Queensland; and Tasmania (2 matches). India won two and lost three of these matches, the other four being drawn.
Match background
The Indian team had played six first-class matches prior to this match, and they had a below-par win-loss ratio of one win and two losses, both being innings defeats. Australia, though, had a remarkable record in their last ten test series, winning eight of them, and three out of a total three series after the war. Their win-loss record was exemplary as well, winning 29 and losing only 7, out of 45 tests. However, the Indian team had reason to believe that they could punch above their weight, as they had unearthed in Vinoo Mankad, a talented all-rounder, who had taken 39 wickets in those six matches, and had also scored 516 runs from 11 innings at an average of 46.90, and their captain Lala Amarnath's good run with the bat and the emergence of a future batting stalwart for India, Vijay Hazare, made India's prospects look a little brighter. However, Australia's best batsman and captain, and arguably, the most complete batsman of that period, Don Bradman was a major stumbling block in India's path. despite playing only 42 Test matches, he had garnered the reputation of being a heavy-scorer and an outstanding batsman. his record stood thus: 42 Matches, 5773 runs, Average of 97.84. Worryingly, for the touring side, He had already scored heavily against the Indian attack for the Australian XI outfit against India, an imposing 172. So his presence meant definite trouble for Lala Amarnath's side.
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