June 24, 1974 | India Get Bowled Out for 42 at Lord’s, Their Lowest Test Score

On this day (June 24) in 1974, India had a nightmarish day when they succumbed to their lowest ever Test total, being bowled out for just 42 by England at Lord’s.

It was the second Test of the series after England had won the first at Old Trafford in Manchester. India came with the reputation of being good travelers, having won in England and West Indies in the previous few years. However, all that went out of the window at Lord’s when the batting failed in unison.

India had managed 302 in the first innings in reply to England’s 629. While they couldn’t come close, there were still some decent batting performances with Sunil Gavaskar (49) and Farokh Engineer (86) adding 131 for the opening wicket. Gundappa Viswanath (52) and Eknath Solkar (43) made decent contributions as well.

However, it wasn’t enough for India to avoid the follow on. England made India bat again and wrapped up the game in style.

The second innings saw only one Indian batsman getting to double digits – Eknath Solkar with an unbeaten 18. Day 4 began with India 2 for no loss, and things went downhill quickly.

Pacers Geoff Arnold (4 for 19) and Chris Old (5 for 21) ran riot as India’s batsmen fell like nine pins in just 17 overs.

“The ball didn’t do as much in the air as everybody thought, but it certainly went off the pitch; Obviously what happened was that it had sweated under the covers overnight and greened up just enough to give the ball the sort of purchase I needed. It was amazing really. Just one of those days,” Arnold said later.

India went on to lose the third Test as well, which was also captain Ajit Wadekar’s last Test.