Cricket is more than just a sport in India—it is a passion, a way of life, and an integral part of the nation’s cultural fabric. Test cricket, often regarded as the purest and most challenging format of the game, holds a special place in the world of cricket. For the purists, Test cricket represents the essence of the sport—where grit, determination, and tactical prowess are as important as technical ability.
It is fair to say that India’s cricketing history has been shaped by some of the most formidable and stylish batsmen ever to grace the game, more so in the Test format. From the days of Lala Amarnath and Vinoo Mankad to the maestros like Sunil Gavaskar passing the baton on to arguably the best-batter of all time Sachin Tendulkar and then the modern-day giants in whites like Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, Indian batsmen have consistently been at the forefront of world cricket.
For a country with such a rich history, tradition, and culture of batsmanship, India have had their fair share of gloomy days with the bat in Test Cricket. Here is a look at the 5 lowest scores as a team in Indian Cricket’s test history –
1. 36 All Out vs Australia (2020) – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
December 21, 2020 was one of those dark days in Indian cricket which saw a horrendous display of batsmanship from the Indian batters which saw them register the lowest-ever total scored by India in an innings till date.
The occasion was the Pink Ball Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21 played under floodlights at the Adelaide Oval. India won the toss on Day 1 and went on to score 244 on the back of skipper Virat Kohli’s 74 and obtained a 53-run lead in the first innings.
But what followed was something unprecedented. Indian batters crumbled inexplicably against some disciplined seam and swing bowling from Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and it was an absolute procession. Hazlewood bagged a 5-er while Cummins snapped up 4 wickets as India folded for a paltry 36 in 21.2 overs.
The Aussies ramped up an 8-wicket victory to finish off proceedings but this was a huge shock to the entire nation. Eyebrows were raised from every corner and questions were asked about the future even more so because regular skipper Virat Kohli was due to fly back to India after this test match for personal reasons.
2. 42 All Out vs England (1974) – Lord’s Cricket Ground, England
Known infamously as “Summer of 42”, the Lord’s Test in 1974 was a rude shock to Indian cricket as it turned out.
The damage inflicted on the Indian batters’ confidence was huge on that tour and that was due to a single innings largely. In what was the second Test match of the series, India was asked to follow-on after they fell 327 runs short of England’s 629 runs in the first innings, which included centuries for Denniss Amiss, Mike Denness, and Tony Greig.
The London sky was overcast and the weather was typically English. In front of an underconfident batting line-up were top-class English new ball pacers Geoff Arnold and Chris Old. What came out of all this was a total disaster for Indian cricket as they were bowled out in just 17 overs for a team score of 42 which was the lowest team total by India in an innings at that time. Only Eknath Kelkar got into double-figures as Old picked 5 and Arnold picked 4 wickets dismantling the Indian batting.
3. 46 All Out vs New Zealand (2024) – Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Probably the most shocking and the most unexpected showing by an Indian batting unit is India’s 46-all-out against the Kiwis on a cloudy morning in Bengaluru. This is also India’s lowest test total on home soil.
This was the first test match of a 3-match series and India were expected to steamroll another opponent just as usual. However, what transpired was what no one could have pre-empted. India’s nemesis Matt Henry and an unknown entity William O’Rourke ran through the Indian batting lineup which fell like a pack of cards against the moving ball as the two pacers shared 9 wickets between them and India were skittled out for 46 in just 31.2 overs.
India did put up a strong fightback in the second innings on the back of Sarfaraz Khan’s 150 and Rishabh Pant’s 99 but they eventually lost the match by wickets and subsequently the series 3-0 in what was a first test series loss on home soil in 12 years for India.
4. 58 All Out vs Australia (1947) – The Gabba, Brisbane
Another chapter of India being blown away down under was written way back in 1947 when India visited Australia for the first time. The hosts were not too kind on the visitors and gave them an absolute hammering in the first test itself.
Australia declared on 382/8 on the back of the great Don Bradman’s 185-run knock and now it was the turn for the Indians to bat for the first time on Australian soil.
The first outing with the bat went horrendously wrong for the visitors as the Aussie pace attack led by Ernie Toshack proved to be too-hot-to-handle for them. Only three-batters reached double figures, Lala Amarnath top-scored with 22, and there were a total of 4 ducks in the innings as the Indians were bowled out for a mere 58 runs inside 22 overs.
Toshack picked up 5 wickets in that innings and eventually 11 in the match as Indians were asked to follow-on and then went on to be dismissed once again for a lowly 98 losing the match by an innings and 226 runs.
5. 58 All Out vs England (1952) – Old Trafford, Manchester
Almost 5 years later, India were playing England as visitors and it was almost as if history repeated itself at the Old Trafford.
This match was uncannily similar to the one in Brisbane just above this one and the score that India was bowled out for in the first innings was the same as well, 58.
Batting first, England declared on 347/9, powered by a Leonard Hutton ton. Indian batters found life to be really tough on a grassy wicket in Manchester and a young Fred Trueman ran through them and finished with remarkable figures of 8/31 as India were bowled out in just 21.4 overs with Vijay Manjrekar top-scoring with 22.
The English asked India to follow-on and this time India scored a bit more, 82 to be precise, in what was another poor performance with the bat and lost the match by an innings and 207 runs.
