Exclusive: Vijay Merchant and Syed Mushtaq Ali - India’s first centurions at Manchester and overseas

Vijay Merchant and Syed Mushtaq Ali - India’s first centurions at Manchester and overseas

Scoring hundreds at Old Trafford have been a difficult ask for Indian batters. The last time an Indian scored a hundred here was Sachin Tendulkar in 1990. With conditions difficult for batting and with rain interruptions frequent, a batter is never really in at Old Trafford.

May be that’s why we should celebrate the first centurions much more. And we don’t. With our clear disregard for history, we have almost forgotten the first ever centurions at Old Trafford, Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali, who achieved the feat during India’s second tour to the UK in 1936.

File photo of Indian players at Old Trafford, Manchester back in 1936

India vs England at Manchester in 1936

Ali, whose last interview was with me, before he passed away remembered the 100 till his very last day. In fact, when we met he showed me some scrapbooks, which he had carefully preserved and which included paper cuttings of this feat. He was hugely proud of this one achievement and it was one of the highest points of his career.

The feat was nicely celebrated in contemporary papers and the picture of Ali and Merchant walking out to bat has forever remained one of the most iconic photos in the history of Indian cricket.

At Old Trafford in 1936 Vijay Merchant, who retired with a first class average of 71, second only to Bradman’s 95, had his moment. After India were bowled out for a poor 203 in the first innings of the second Test and England had posted a mammoth 571 for 8 declared, the Indians were under severe pressure to save the game. In fact, not many of India’s fans had hoped for anything better than a hard fought defeat.

India vs England at Manchester in 1936

Caricature and signatures of the Indian players part of the Manchester Test against England in 1936

India vs England at Manchester in 1936

However, Merchant and Mushtaq Ali, the Indian opening pair, had other ideas. Both scored centuries and the match was eventually drawn with the Indian second innings score reading 390-5, a result of immense significance for India.

Speaking a few days before his 90th and last birthday Mushtaq Ali could still passionately remember the occasion, “When I scored that hundred at Old Trafford in Manchester in 1936 in the second Test, I became the first Indian centurion overseas. The feeling of delight will remain with me for the whole of my life, more so because the hundred was instrumental in us saving the match. While I had completed my hundred before the end of the day's play, Vijay Merchant completed his hundred the next morning."

In this piece, we remember and memorialise the twin hundreds and celebrate this effort with the help of some very rare photos from the archive.