SK Flashback: Australia’s first tour of India in 1956

#4 Gulabrai Ramchand’s century helped India avoid an embarrassing whitewash

Gulabrai Ramchand scored a brilliant 109 in the second Test of the series

The strong Indian batting which had the likes of Polly Umrigar, Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Manjrekar and Pankaj Roy was unable to impress against an Australian attack spearheaded by Benaud. A major reason for the team’s 0-2 defeat in the series is because of the failure of the team’s batting.

With defeats in the first game at Madras and third game at Calcutta, the hosts avoided an embarrassing whitewash because of the draw in the second match at Mumbai. With captain Umrigar opting to bat first at Brabourne Stadium, the hosts found themselves in a spot of bother with the loss of early wickets.

A brilliant innings of 109 by Gulabrai Ramchand helped India to a respectable total of 251 (their highest in the series). With the visitors responding with a huge total of 523-7 in their innings (centuries from Jim Burke and Neil Harvey), Ramchand’s knock gained more significance as it meant that India wasn’t totally outplayed in the game.

The home team continued its resistance in the second innings with fighting half-centuries from Roy and Umrigar salvaging a draw.