Greatest Cricket Moments

Vijay Hazare's 116 and 145 at Adelaide — January 1948

1948-01-23Australia v IndiaAustralia v India, 4th Test, Adelaide Oval, 23-28 January 1948 — Australia 674 and 167; India 381 and 277; Australia won by an innings and 16 runs2 min readSeverity: Serious

Summary

Against an Australian total of 674 — built on Bradman 201 and Hassett 198 not out — Vijay Hazare made 116 and 145 in successive innings to become the first Indian to score twin centuries in a Test. He did so against Lindwall and Miller at their fastest, watching wickets fall constantly at the other end (six teammates failed to score across his second-innings 145), and earned an oft-quoted compliment from Bradman about his batting. India still lost by an innings and 16, but Hazare's innings remain a touchstone of Indian batsmanship.

Background

Hazare, from Sangli, had built a reputation in domestic cricket with vast scores including 309 and 316 not out. The 1947-48 tour was India's first to Australia and came only weeks after Partition; Mushtaq Ali had withdrawn and the side carried fewer batting reserves than planned.

Build-Up

By the fourth Test India were 0-2 down. The Adelaide pitch was true; with Bradman 201 and Hassett unbeaten 198, the only Indian counter-narrative was likely to be individual.

What Happened

Bradman's Australia, in their last Test summer at home, were dismantling Lala Amarnath's tourists with mechanical efficiency. At Adelaide, Bradman and Hassett added 236 for the fourth wicket; Australia declared at 8/674.

Hazare came to the crease with India 70-odd for 3 in reply. He drove and pulled with classical balance off the back foot, taking 23 fours in his first-innings 116, made out of 187 added while he was at the crease. Forced to follow on 293 behind, India lost five wickets quickly. Hazare, batting at three, made 145 — a more punishing innings against the second new ball — out of 277. Six of his team-mates were dismissed without scoring.

Bradman, talking to journalists afterwards, said Hazare was 'one of the most graceful batsmen I have seen', a remark cited often in later Indian cricket-writing.

Key Moments

1

23 Jan 1948 — Australia 8/674 declared (Bradman 201)

2

25 Jan — Hazare 116; India 381 all out

3

26 Jan — India follow on; Hazare comes in early

4

27 Jan — Hazare 145; six team-mates score 0

5

28 Jan — Australia win by an innings and 16 runs

Timeline

23 Jan 1948

Australia post 8/674 declared (Bradman 201)

25 Jan 1948

Hazare 116

27 Jan 1948

Hazare 145 in the follow-on

28 Jan 1948

Australia win by innings and 16

Notable Quotes

“One of the most graceful batsmen I have seen.”

— Don Bradman, post-match remark to Australian press, 28 January 1948

Aftermath

India lost the series 0-4. Hazare ended the rubber with 429 runs at 47.66, the highest Indian aggregate. He would captain India to their first Test win, against England at Madras in February 1952.

⚖️ The Verdict

The first authentic Indian Test masterpiece on Australian soil. Hazare's twin tons against Lindwall and Miller, made amid wreckage, gave India a story to carry through the post-Partition decade.

Legacy & Impact

Hazare's twin tons remained the only Indian instance of two centuries in a Test for almost two decades and are still cited as the prototype for India's later Adelaide hundreds (Sehwag, Dravid, Pujara, Kohli). The Bradman quote is engraved at the Vijay Hazare gates at Sangli.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Hazare the first Indian to score twin tons in a Test?▾
Yes — and the only Indian to do so for almost twenty years.
How many ducks did India have in the second innings?▾
Six of Hazare's team-mates were dismissed for nought.
What did Bradman say about him?▾
'One of the most graceful batsmen I have seen' — quoted by reporters after the Test.

Tags

#vijay-hazare#adelaide#1948#india#twin-centuries#first-indian#lindwall#miller

Related Incidents

⭐Mild

Middlesex County Cricket Club Founded — Cricket Comes Home to Lord's, 1864

Middlesex cricket establishment

1864-02-02

Middlesex County Cricket Club was founded on 2 February 1864 at a meeting in London, the same year in which the MCC legalised overarm bowling and John Wisden published his first Almanack. It was one of several county clubs formally constituted in the busy years of 1863–65 as English cricket reorganised itself around a county structure that would eventually evolve into a formal championship.

#overarm-era#early-county-cricket#1860s
⭐Mild

Lancashire County Cricket Club Founded — Manchester's Game Gets Organised, 1864

Lancashire cricket establishment

1864-01-12

Lancashire County Cricket Club was formally constituted at a meeting in Manchester on 12 January 1864, giving England's most cricket-passionate industrial county a formal organisational structure to match the grassroots enthusiasm that had been filling grounds at Old Trafford and elsewhere for decades. Lancashire, alongside Yorkshire, represented the great northern cricket public that William Clarke's All-England Eleven had first mobilised commercially in the 1840s.

#overarm-era#early-county-cricket#1860s
⭐Mild

V.E. Walker Takes All Ten — Every Wicket at Lord's, Middlesex v Lancashire, 1865

Middlesex vs Lancashire

1865-07-26

Vyell Edward Walker of Middlesex took all ten wickets in a Lancashire innings at Lord's on 26 July 1865 — one of the earliest documented instances of a bowler taking all ten in a first-class match. Walker, a medium-pace round-arm bowler who also captained Middlesex, achieved the feat without assistance from any other bowler, delivering one of the most complete individual bowling performances of the Victorian era.

#overarm-era#early-county-cricket#1860s