Fred Trueman 8 for 31 — India Routed at Old Trafford, 1952

The 1952 Indian tour had begun badly with weather and form, and the side was understaffed in fast-bowling experience. Vijay Hazare's batsmen were brought up on subcontinental matting and turf wickets and had little exposure to genuine pace. Trueman, by contrast, had been mining coal in his teens and had played Yorkshire's hard-edged county cricket since 1949.

After the Headingley first Test, the Lord's match was Mankad's, but at Old Trafford the conditions favoured pace. England chose Trueman, Bedser, Tony Lock, Jim Laker and Roly Jenkins. The pitch was damp underneath after rain on the rest day.

Trueman had made his Test debut at Headingley earlier that summer, reducing India to 0 for 4 in their second innings — three of the wickets falling to him in his first eight balls. By Old Trafford he was a national figure, helped along by a press corps eager for a new Larwood. The Indian batting, led by the Nawab of Pataudi senior, had no answer to short-pitched bowling on lively English wickets, and the 1952 tour quickly became a study in mismatches.

At Old Trafford, England batted first and made 347 for 9 declared, with Tom Graveney top-scoring with 47. India's first innings began at 4.45pm on the second day on a pitch given pace by overnight rain. Trueman dismissed Pankaj Roy in his second over and never let up. Bowling at genuine pace from the Stretford End, he bowled three batters, had three caught behind by Godfrey Evans and one in the slips. India were 17 for 5, 26 for 6 and 58 all out in 21.4 overs. Trueman's 8 for 31 came off 8.4 overs.

Following on 289 behind, India were skittled again on the third morning for 82, with Alec Bedser taking 5 for 27 and Trueman 1 for 9. India lost 14 wickets in a single day's play — a record for a Test innings defeat at the time. The whole match lasted three days, with the third innings barely seeing the lunch interval.

“I were just a young lad bowling fast.”

“Trueman was a complete fast bowler at twenty-one.”

India's tour ended 0-3 with one drawn. Trueman's reputation soared, and he was selected for the 1953-54 West Indies tour, where his behaviour off the field would cause its own controversy. Bedser, in his last great series, finished with 20 wickets at 13.95 alongside Trueman.

India's batting reform began afterwards: the BCCI invested in pace-friendly turf pitches at home and looked again at fast-bowling preparation. Pankaj Roy, who failed five times in the series including four ducks, would respond two years later with a 413-run opening stand against New Zealand.