Outstanding individual performances in Tests in England

Partab Ramchand

1.Vinoo Mankad's treble at Lord's 1952: Thanks to an administrative howler, Vinoo Mankad, then one of the leading players in the world, was not selected for the tour of England in 1952. With the team faring badly he was pressed into service for the last three Tests of the four-match series. He did not take long to exhibit his class and came up with a performance that remains one of the greatest all round feats in Test history. Opening the innings he first top scored with 72.

Then when England batted for almost two days he bowled long spells to finish with five for 196 from 73 overs. The best however was still to come. In the second innings he flayed the attack which included Fred Trueman, Alec Bedser and Jim Laker to hit 184 in 270 minutes, adding with Vijay Hazare 211 runs for the third wicket.

With England needing just 77 runs to win Mankad bowled 24 overs conceding only 35 runs but without a wicket. He was the first Indian cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in a Test match. It is a pity that despite such a Herculean performance India lost by eight wickets.

Image: Prime Minister Tony Blair makes remarks from the podium (bottom) in front of the main pavilion of Lord's ground during the brief opening ceremony of the 1999 Cricket World Cup in London, 14 May 1999.