Cricket is a numbers game. For some people it is about consistency of a player while for others it’s about the number of records held by a player on his name. The various formats of cricket bring the difference in the picture about this game of greats where test cricket remains the format that is an ideal test for any cricketer to prove his greatness from other formats of a game or for a team to define how good they are in red-ball cricket format. 5-days game and 3 sessions in a day it’s not an easy task for a team to survive in an era where with the advent of T20l Cricket the values and morals of test cricket are almost at the verge of losing its existence.
In the long history of cricket teams have been racked up the monumental runs on the scoreboard to define what test cricket is all about while there were times when team have been crumbled down to the lowest ever total in the history of cricket to brings the complete different picture of this game that even this could happen in cricket with any team. From the A-list teams to minnows teams many have been bowled out at lowest ever total to stunned the cricketing fraternity.
With the recent team India has bowled out at the lowest ever total in the history of cricket to turn into one of the darkest days in the Indian Cricket History as everyone have criticised about the performance and termed it “Worst and Absurd”. Having said, let us take a look at the top five lowest team India totals in test cricket.
36 – INDIA VS AUSTRALIA, ADELAIDE, 2020:
The start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020 has turned into a nightmare for the visitors (India) when they have been bowled out to 36 runs in second innings. After batting first, India has posted 244 runs in the first innings with the valuable knock from Virat Kohli (74) as no other batsman has crossed the 50-run mark in the first innings. In response the hosts (Australia) were restricted to 191 runs in their first innings, thanks to Ashwin (4) and Umesh Yadav (3) who were leading wicket takers to wrap up the Australian innings to get the important lead of 53 runs.
The day of history with the lead in the first innings team India couldn't take the advantage of that and bundled out at the lowest ever total of 36/9 in the history of cricket. As no Indian batsman was unable to reach double figure mark and team India entered the club of five lowest totals in the history. The Australian bowlers destroyed the batting line-up before they chased down the target of 90 runs with 8 wickets in hand.
42 – INDIA VS ENGLAND, LORD'S, 1974:
For the 46 long years it was team India lowest ever total. India tour of England in 1974 for 3-match test series. After winning the first test match England decided to bat first in the second test and they had posted 629 runs in the first innings with three batsmen from England have scored centuries while one batsman was out for 96. In response, team India was all out at 302 in the first innings before England had enforced the follow-on.
With follow on team India began their second innings and in a span of time they were bundled out at the score of 42 runs and lost the match by 285 runs and series too in the end by 3-0. The second test ended in 4 days. Chris old (5) and Geoff Arnold (4) have shared 9 Wickets to wrap up the second Innings of team India which had the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanth.
More on the 42 at Lord's: India vs England 42 All Out at Lords in 1974
58 – INDIA VS AUSTRALIA, BRISBANE, 1947:
A complete different era when cricket was played without the modern day equipments to a batsman or kind of if we say a bowling friendly era would be right. India tour of Australia in 1947 for 5-match test series and team India had played 6 first-class games before the start of first test match. The hosts (Australia) won the toss and decided to bat first at Brisbane which is not quite pitch for the batsman to score runs. Australia had batted for two days before declared the innings at 382 runs for the loss 8 wickets don Bradman remained unbeaten on 185 which featured 20 fours.
In response team India was bundled out at the score of 58 runs in the first innings against the top spell of Ernie Toshack who had picked up 5 for 2 in the first innings while returned with 6 for 29 in the second innings to wrap up the second innings of team India at 98 runs. Australia won the match by 226 runs and an innings and series too in the end by 4-0.
58 – INDIA VS ENGLAND, MANCHESTER, 1952:
India tour of England in 1952 for 4-match test series. After winning the first two tests England. The hosts (England) have decided to bat first after winning the toss as it was the first time when they won the toss in the series. England have scored 347 runs in the first innings for the loss of 9 wickets before declaring their innings. Len Hutton smashed a century with 104 from England.
In reply team India was all out at the score of 58 runs in the first innings. Fred Trueman from England returned with 8 for 31 runs in the first innings to destroy the opposition. With the lead in the first innings England enforced the follow-on before team India crumbled down to the 82 runs in the second innings to lose the match by 207 runs and an innings.
66 - INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA, DURBAN, 1996:
India tour of South Africa in 1996 for 3-match test series. The first test match of the series and team India after winning the toss have decided to bowl first and they have restricted the hosts (South Africa) at the score of 235 runs in the first innings. In reply team India was all out at the score of 100 runs in their first innings. Allan Donald picked up 5 for 40 runs in the first innings for South Africa.
With the lead of 135 runs, South Africa scored 259 runs in the second innings to set the target of 395 for team India. But Allan Donald returned with 4 for 14 runs to bamboozle the team India in the second innings at the score of 66 runs. South Africa won the match by 328 runs and an innings and later on series too by 2-0.
