India in Great Britain, 1946 (cricket)

In its review of the 1946 season, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack remarked that "the Indians were the first postwar touring side, and although they were outplayed in the Tests they raised the status and the dignity of their country's sport". Wisden also mentioned that "the weather in 1946 might have been dreadful, but it didn't stop the crowds flocking to games".

The state of the weather was mentioned by John Arlott who wrote his first match report for The Guardian when the Indians played Worcestershire at New Road, Worcester on 4, 6 and 7 May. Arlott wrote that "New Road was bleak that Saturday morning... dark under the cloud, it was swept by a bitter gale howling across from Diglis".

Test series summary

England and India played three Tests between June and August. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn:

• First Test at Lord's: England won by 10 wickets
• Second Test at Old Trafford: match drawn
• Third Test at The Oval: match drawn

Indian squad

India used a 16-man squad captained by Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, who was one of the few players to represent two countries in Test cricket, having played for England during the 1930s.

Squad details below state the player's age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his Ranji Trophy team at the time:

Batsmen

• Nawab of Pataudi, 36, right-handed batsman (RHB), unattached
• Vijay Hazare 31, RHB, right-arm medium pace (RM), Baroda
• Vijay Merchant 34, RHB, RM, Bombay
• Rusi Modi 21, RHB, RM, Bombay
• Syed Mushtaq Ali 31, RHB, slow left-arm orthodox spin (SLA), Holkar

Bowlers

• Shute Banerjee 34, RHB, right-arm fast medium pace (RFM), Bihar
• C S Nayudu 32, RHB, leg-break and googly (LBG), Holkar
• Sadu Shinde 22, RHB, LBG, Maharashtra
• Ranga Sohoni 28, RHB, RFM and off-break (OB), Maharashtra

All-rounders

• Abdul Hafeez 21, left-handed batsman (LHB), SLA, unattached
• Lala Amarnath 34, RHB, RM, unattached
• Gul Mohammad 24, LHB, left-arm medium pace (LM), Baroda
• Vinoo Mankad 29, RHB, SLA, Gujarat
• Chandra Sarwate 25, RHB, OB, Holkar

Wicket-keepers

• Dattaram Hindlekar 37, RHB, wicket-keeper (WK), Bombay
• Raosaheb Nimbalkar 30, RHB, WK, Baroda

The team relied heavily on all-rounders and some of those listed above as batsmen or bowlers had all-round ability. All except Banerjee and Nimbalkar played in the Test series. The team was largely inexperienced at international level as only six players had made their Test debuts before the Second World War: Pataudi, Amarnath, Hindlekar, Merchant, Mushtaq Ali and Nayudu. In the First Test, which India lost heavily, the team had six debutants: Abdul Hafeez, Gul Mohammad, Hazare, Mankad, Modi and Shinde.

England selections

England staged two Test trials, the first in June a week before the First Test and the second in July a week before the Second Test. It was seven years since England had last played a Test match and there was a winter tour of Australia to come so the selectors wanted to look at a large number of players to try and quickly establish the best possible team.

A total of 35 players were used in the two Test trials and, in the end, England used 19 players in the three Test matches, with as many as 10 making only a single appearance. The mainstays of the team who each played in all three Tests were captain Wally Hammond, opening batsmen Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook, middle order batsman Denis Compton and opening pace bowler Alec Bedser.

For the First Test at Lord's, England had only three debutants compared with India's six. Bedser and batting all-rounder Jack Ikin were the only "new" players in that they had made two and five first-class appearances respectively before the war and each of them was now in his first full season. The third debutant was veteran seam bowler Frank Smailes who had been playing regularly for Yorkshire since 1932. England's other four players in this match were also experienced pre-war players: batsman Joe Hardstaff junior, wicket-keeper Paul Gibb, leg spinner Doug Wright and pace bowler Bill Bowes.

England won the First Test by a convincing ten wicket margin after Bedser took 11 wickets on debut and Hardstaff scored 205*.

Team changes were made for the Second Test in view of the need to try out several players ahead of the winter tour of Australia. Pace bowler Dick Pollard was introduced, making his Test debut in place of Smailes. Like Smailes, Pollard was an experienced player active since 1933. Veteran pace bowler Bill Voce was recalled in place of his former bodyline series colleague Bowes.

The Second Test was drawn but it had a tense climax as India's last wicket pair Sohoni and Hindlekar held on for the final 13 minutes of play to secure the draw with England 125 runs ahead. Bedser again took 11 wickets and Pollard weighed in with 7. Compton, with two half centuries, was the top scorer.

England made six changes for the Third Test, which was drawn after being ruined by rain. Batsmen Laurie Fishlock, Bill Edrich and James Langridge were recalled along with fast bowler Alf Gover. There were two debutants: wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans and veteran spinner Peter Smith. They replaced Ikin, Hardstaff, Gibb, Voce, Pollard and Wright.