Amar Singh (cricketer) - Test Career

Test Career

Amar Singh Lodha was one of the amateurs who comprised the Indian team. His bowling partner Nissar, were the two fast bowlers who were the centre of attraction on the first day of the match being played at Lord's. It was first Nissar who wreaked havoc with the English to-order, dismissing the openers, Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe to reduce England 1 for 8 and 2 for 11.

Frank Woolley, was later run out after adding none runs to their score. At 19 for 3, England were in deep trouble, but the legendary Walter Hammond, who would later go on to praise Singh lavishly, mounted a recovery with his Captain Douglas Jardine, the pair added 82 runs for the third wicket before he gifted Amar Singh his first wicket in test Cricket, later, Nissar carried on his fine work and took three more wickets, cleaning up the middle order, while CK Nayudu(who was the Indian Captain, and who took two for 40 in England's first innings), and Singh mopped up the tail as England were shot out for 259. Amar Singh bowled 31.1 overs, taking 2 for 75.

In Wisden's report of the test, it was noted that, "Amar Singh bowled almost as well, making the ball curl in the air either from leg or from the off and causing it to come off the pitch at a tremendous pace." This was highly unexpected as England looked particularly strong on the batting front on paper. India, though, squandered their bowlers good work, and were all out for 189 runs, after they imploded after being 153 for 4. England started their second innings badly as well, losing Sutcliffe, after an opening stand of 30, to Amar Singh. From that point on, Jahangir khan, another Indian fast bowler, ran through England's middle order, taking 4 for 60. Amar Singh bowled for 41 overs, taking 2 for 84. However, Wisden heaped praise on the Indian fast bowler, stating, "When England went in a second time, Amar Singh bowled even better than before". England declared at 275 for 8, with Jardine once again displaying an excellent temperament, scored 85 not out to go with his 79 in the first innings, another innings which was highly received by Wisden and spectators alike, as one particular onlooker's reports, which was retrieved by The Cricketer, praised his gritty innings, stating "Luckily England had in Jardine, the captain, a steel-hearted warrior to hold the pass".

Thus, India, set a target of 346 in the second innings, came out to bat, but were outclassed by England's superior bowling. In fact, Wisden stated in its match reports, that "India fared so badly that they lost seven wickets for 108 ...". However, it was Amar Singh, this time, who displayed his lower-order batting prowess, hitting 51 with the help of one six. He added 74 runs for the eighth wicket with Lall Singh, who scored 29 runs. Ultimately, Amar Singh was the last man out for 187, and India lost by 158 runs.

Amar Singh played Lodha the rest of his six test matches against England, producing several of his best displays, including 4 for 106 in Kolkata in 1934, 6 or 35 at Lord's in 1936, and his career-best figures of 7 for 86 in the Chennai match in 1934. However, he bowled more than thirty-five overs in an innings on six occasions, giving rise to the perception that he was perhaps being used as a workhorse.