Mid-Day Opinion: Coming of age at Manchester

When Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his India debut in the T20 international against England at Old Trafford last Saturday the commentators dwelled upon the memorable moments witnessed at this ground in ManchesterNot all feats concerning India at Manchester were mentioned on Saturday but itrsquos worth recalling Vijay Merchant and Syed Mushtaq Ali scoring hundreds as opening batsmen to draw the 1936 Test matchAfter that came Abbas Ali Baigrsquos Test debut hundred in 1959 Sunil Gavaskarrsquos 101 in extreme cold conditions in 1974 Sandeep Patilrsquos six fours in an over off Bob Willis en route a careersaving hundred and Indiarsquos first win in their opening 1983 World Cup match Twelve days later India beat England to get into their famous June 25 final against the West Indies Sachin Tendulkarrsquos maiden hundred there in 1990 saved India from defeat and only last year Shubman Gill Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja scored hundreds in the same inningsIndeed Manchester mdash the city known for its textile production mdash holds special significance for India and now Sooryavanshirsquos historic international debut that made him the youngest player 15 years 99 days to wear India colours at the senior level Sooryavanshirsquos two sixes that set the wheels in motion in a muchawaited debut made it somewhat worth it for the large congregation of Indian fans at ManchesterInterestingly Sooryavanshirsquos historic debut coincides with the 90th year of the centuries of Merchant and Mushtaq The Test was Game 2 of the threeTest series England won the first Test at Lordrsquos by nine wickets On Day One of the July 2528 Test India were dismissed for 203 with Syed Wazir Ali 42 and C Ramaswami 40 being the principal scorersEngland piled on the runs Big runs to the tune of 571 before Gubby Allen declared with eight wickets down If England thought India would crumble again they had reckoned without the grit of Merchant and the flair of Mushtaq The tall charismatic Mushtaq told readers of his autobiography Cricket Delightful that the first 26 of his innings came in 20 minutes as Merchant stayed rock solid at the other endMushtaq loved to be adventurous in his approach to batting and in an article in Cricket Quarterly AprilJune 1975 he said that the Old Trafford century provided him with ldquothe golden dayrdquo of his life This selection was not based on the fact that this was his maiden Test century but ldquobecause I batted to my heartrsquos content with complete command over the best of Englandrsquos bowling to reduce it to mediocrityrdquoMushtaqrsquos 112 earned praise from the best cricket writer then Sir Neville Cardus who reckoned that the Indianrsquos cricketer ldquotouched the imagination there was suppleness and lithe grace which concealed power as silkiness of skin conceals voracity of strength in a beautiful animal of the junglerdquoMushtaqrsquos Indorebased son Syed Gulrez Ali told me on Wednesday that his father took great pride in being the first Indian to score a Test hundred on English soil Mushtaq reached his hundred on Day Two while Merchant got his on Day Three ldquoDad also cherished the memories of the reception he received when he returned to the team hotel that evening July 27 1936 with an unbeaten century to his namerdquo revealed Gulrez who played Ranji Trophy cricket for Madhya Pradesh from 196566 to 198485Back to 1936 Although Merchant put a heavy price on his wicket at all times and not only on this tour on which he scored 1745 at 5132 with three centuries Wisden of 1937 the publication that named him as one of their five cricketers for 1936 wrote that during his Manchester innings of 114 he ldquooften jumped in to drive Robert Robins and also cut wellrdquoIn the midst of battle the oppositionrsquos batting stalwart Walter Hammond wanted to see Mushtaq reach his hundred ldquoMy boy be steady get your hundred firstrdquo Hammond told Mushtaq Merchant too urged Mushtaq not to give his wicket away This was the same Merchant who had heard talk that Mushtaq was asked to run him out because he was dismissed in that fashion in the first innings Mushtaq of course would not have any of it and in fact stressed that his first innings dismissal was an accident Merchant and Mushtaq put on 203 for the first wicket and even if India lost five wickets they didnrsquot succumb to defeatMerchant wrote in an article Oh To Be in England in Cricket Quarterly magazine OctoberDecember 1976 that the 1936 Indians travelled to England by a ship called The Viceroy of India and his pretour training involved running around a onefurlong stretch eight times each morning on the 17day journey ldquoWe travelled by firstclass but believe me my windowless cabin on Deck E was below the water level Fresh air was injected into the cabin by means of a piperdquo he wroteIn 10 yearsrsquo time the feats of Merchant and Mushtaq will reach a century And Sooryavanshi could well be a decade into his India career The prospect of that milestone is nothing short of excitingmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper