Indian cricket team in England in 1911
Encyclopedia
The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1911 season and played 23 matches, of which 14 were first-class
. It was the first tour by an 'All Indian' team. The Indians won just two of their first-class fixtures, drew two and lost 10.
The team was captained by the Maharaja of Patiala
and its outstanding player was Palwankar Baloo
, the slow left-arm spinner who took 75 wickets at 20.12 with a best analysis of 8-103. Baloo was a mainstay for the Hindus in the regular Quadrangular tournament in India but was an 'untouchable' himself. He took 114 wickets in all on the tour, including non first class games. The tourists might have fared better with the bat had K.M. Mistri played more than six innings (in which he scored 188 runs) but his duties 'kept him in close attendance on the Maharajah of Patiala'.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
. It was the first tour by an 'All Indian' team. The Indians won just two of their first-class fixtures, drew two and lost 10.
The team was captained by the Maharaja of Patiala
Maharaja of Patiala
The Maharaja of Patiala was a maharaja in India and the ruler of the princely state of Patiala in Punjab. The first Maharaja of Patiala was Baba Ala Singh , who was granted the title by Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan in 1764....
and its outstanding player was Palwankar Baloo
Palwankar Baloo
Babaji Palwankar Baloo, , commonly known as Palwankar Baloo, was an Indian cricketer. He bowled left-arm orthodox spin with great accuracy and the ability to turn the ball both ways...
, the slow left-arm spinner who took 75 wickets at 20.12 with a best analysis of 8-103. Baloo was a mainstay for the Hindus in the regular Quadrangular tournament in India but was an 'untouchable' himself. He took 114 wickets in all on the tour, including non first class games. The tourists might have fared better with the bat had K.M. Mistri played more than six innings (in which he scored 188 runs) but his duties 'kept him in close attendance on the Maharajah of Patiala'.
External sources
Further reading
- Ramachandra GuhaRamachandra GuhaRamachandra Guha is an Indian writer whose research interests have included environmental, social, political and cricket history. He is also a columnist for the newspapers The Telegraph , and The Hindustan Times.-Early life and education:Born in Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, India in 1958, Guha studied...
, A Corner of a Foreign Field - An Indian History of a British Sport, Picador, 2001