1932 to 1952: An unexplored era of Indian cricket
Team India played their first-ever test match against England at Lord's in 1932 and suffered a defeat by 158 runs. The first time India and England came up against each other in a test match on Indian soil was in 1933 when the two teams faced each other at the Gymkhana ground, with England winning the match by 9 wickets.
India registered their first draw in 1934 against England. The match was played at the Eden Gardens. This might just give you some perspective on why the Eden Gardens in Kolkata is considered such an iconic ground, simply because it has been part of the journey of Indian cricket right from the outset.
The next test match was played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai which England won by 202 runs. Two years later, England and India faced each other at the Lord's Cricket Ground with England winning comfortably by 9 wickets.
The next match took place at Old Trafford. This was the first time that India managed to register a draw in a test match on away soil. England won the third and the last match of the series at the Kennington Oval by 9 wickets to take the series 2-1.
After a gap of 10 years, England and India met at Lord's again. This time, England won by 10 wickets. The next two matches of the series played at Old Trafford and Kennington Oval saw India display some great courage and determination to not allow England.
India faced Australia for the first time in a test match at the Brisbane cricket ground in 1947 on 28th November. This was shortly after the country gained independence.
India were mauled by the Aussies on their home soil as they registered victory by an innings and 226 runs. India did well to stop the Aussies at a draw in the next test match played at the Sydney cricket ground.
The third match of the four match test series was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which Australia won by 233 runs. In the final match of the series, Australia registered a victory by an innings and 16 runs at the Adelaide Oval.
Finally, in their 25th test match, India were successful in beating England by an innings in a match that was played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in February 1952. The team registered their second test victory the same year as well.
