CD Gopinath, the member of Team India’s historic first-ever Test win in 1952, died today at the age of 96. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at his daughter’s house in Adyar. Notably, he was the last surviving member of the Indian team that created history in that win over England.
Gopinath made his Test debut during the 1951-52 series against England and impressed in the second Test itself. He scored an unbeaten 50 and 42 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai to leave a mark. India won the last Test of the series to create history at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai (then Madras).ย
In that game, Gopinath had contributed 35 before getting out to Ray Tattersall. To add to the glory, Gopinath also took the winning catch to seal a historic Test win for India. Overall, he played eight Tests for India, scoring 242 runs at an average of 22 with a fifty to his name. He played 83 first-class matches in his career, amassing 4259 runs at an average of 42.16 with nine centuries and 23 fifties to his credit.ย
What happened in India vs England Test match in Chennai?
As far as India’s first-ever Test win is concerned, it was a brilliant performance from the hosts as they registered an innings victory. Batting first, England posted 266 runs on the board before getting bowled out. Vinoo Mankad was the star for India, accounting for eight wickets for just 55 runs. Dattu Phadkar and Vijay Hazare picked up a scalp each.
In response, India declared their innings on 457/9 thanks to centuries from Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar who scored 111 runs and 130* runs respectively. Apart from them, Dattu Phadkar also starred with a 61-run knock as the home team took a mammoth lead of 191 runs in the first innings.
England required a top effort with the bat to make a comeback but Mankar and Ghulam Ahmed spun a web around them, sharing eight wickets between them equally. England capitulated to only 183 runs with only four of their batters reaching a double-digit score as India created history with their first ever win in the longest format of the game.
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