This month that year

Among them was wide-eyed 12-year-old Mantri. ‘‘During one such match as left-arm spinner Rustomji Jamshedji came on to bowl to C K Nayudu, somebody shouted ‘Cee Kaay, sixer’! With minimum movement of his feet, he tapped the ball which went soaring over the Gymkhana,’’ recalled Mantri, now 83, while addressing a select gathering on Saturday at the same venue to commemorate the occasion from 71 years back. For 13-year-old Raiji, getting a ticket to watch the Test was a problem. But his father stepped in with a princely sum of 100 rupees ‘‘so that I could sit on a sofa and watch the match’’.

Raiji, who later became Mumbai’s first Ranji captain and a cricket historian of renown, describes an incident which shows the much-maligned England captain Douglas Jardine of ‘Bodyline’ fame in good light: ‘‘After Lala Amarnath reached his hundred, CK Nayudu stepped out of his crease to greet him with the ball still in play. Wicketkeeper Harry Elliot tried to run Nayudu out but Jardine cautioned him.’’

‘‘He was an inspired man that day,’’ says Raiji of the 22-year-old Amarnath’s century. The youngster, who had made his debut was mobbed by people and gifted cash, watches and jewellery, he added.

‘‘India fared badly in the Test (lost by nine wickets) and the series (0-2) which prompted the legendary England opener Jack Hobbs to remark: ‘‘Indians do not take Test matches seriously. They play as if they are on a picnic,’’ informs 84-year-old Raiji. It probably had to with the Indian mindset put into practice by Nayudu: ‘‘He asked the players to entertain, not to bore the public.’’

The function compered by Nayudu’s grandson Vijay also featured former India captain Polly Umrigar, Test cricketers Bapu Nadkarni, Mohinder Amarnath and Ashok Mankad, and administrator Raj Singh Dungarpur.