If it was a challenging task for Shubman Gill to make his captaincy debut in England this summer, it was nothing compared to what India’s first Test captain C K Nayudu faced on the maiden official tour of England in 1932 — nothing short of a mutiny in the ranks.Imagine preparing for the first Test to be played by your country and not knowing till after 4 am on the day of the match — less than eight hours before the toss — who your captain would be. This was the crisis Indian cricket found itself facing as the clock ticked down to the most important moment in the history of Indian cricket.AdvertisementThe captain of the team was Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji, the Maharaja of Porbandar, his deputy was his brother-in-law, Prince Ghanshyamsinhji Daulatsinhji Jhala of Limbdi, neither of whom could by any stretch of the imagination be called first-class cricketers. What counted in their favour was they were of royal stock, and had the right airs and graces for a tour to England, where the captain and vice-captain would be obliged to give innumerable speeches at formal functions.The tour came at a delicate time in relations between India and her British rulers, with Mahatma Gandhi stepping up his Civil Disobedience Movement that led to his imprisonment in January 1932. It was a prerequisite before Independence that the princes, who were largely loyal to the Raj, be given leadership roles on tours to England.There were 16 matches before the one-off Test at Lord’s, beginning on June 25, 1932. Porbandar played just four of those, scoring 0, 2 and 0, while Limbdi had scores of 2, 11, 0 and 1, though he did score a century in a non first-class game at Lincoln, where he hurt his back and was forced to retire hurt just 10 days before the Test match.AdvertisementPorbandar had the captaincy thrust on him when the original choice, Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh — a competent cricketer — withdrew, and was like a fish out of water on the taxing tour where the weather and pitch conditions were alien to the team. He became the butt of jokes in the English media, taunted as the only first-class cricketer who had more Rolls-Royce cars than runs. A sensitive man and, by all accounts, a gentleman, he understood his limitations as a cricketer and withdrew from further matches, though he continued giving stately speeches, which, after all, was his main role.His last match on the tour, which began in April and stretched till September, was in early June against Cambridge University, the Indians winning by nine wickets with the captain out for a duck. That would be the fifth and penultimate first-class match of his entire career, finishing with a grand total of 42 runs from six matches, top score 22, averaging 6.00. Limbdi, on the other hand, played 11 first-class matches on the tour averaging 9.62.So Limbdi and Nayudu, the leading batsman and all-rounder and the senior-most too, took over the captaincy duties for the rest of the tour, with Limbdi expected to captain in the lone Test. But with the historic match looming, he had not yet fully recovered from his injury.Nayudu had already captured the imagination of the English public and media with his dynamic batting. The highlight was a century against the MCC at Lord’s, also the venue of the Test and the most prestigious fixture after the Test itself. By any yardstick Nayudu should have been originally named as captain.By a fortuitous quirk of fate, both for him and for the good of Indian cricket, Nayudu did end up captaining in India’s very first Test. But that happened in the face of fierce opposition from his team-mates. The reasons were two-fold: most of the players were employed by the princes back then and their only job was to play cricket, for which they were well-paid, a precursor to the IPL. The thought of being captained in such an important match by a so-called commoner was anathema to them. Secondly, the tour had allegedly been marred by drunkenness and late-night carousing. Nayudu, a stickler for discipline and the consummate professional, was having none of it, sternly warning the wayward players they would be dropped from the Test team if they did not fall in line.This caused fights to break out, both verbal and physical as per some reports. Porbandar broke the news that they would be captained by Nayudu since both Porbandar and Limbdi were unavailable.most readNow all hell broke loose. A revolt erupted and Porbandar was woken up at 4 am by the rebels who told him they would refuse to play under Nayudu. Frantic cables began flying back and forth between London and Patiala. The revolt had thrown the Test — just hours away — into jeopardy. The Patiala Maharaja’s word was law in cricket matters back then and the recalcitrant bunch quickly fell in line when the Maharaja’s cable stated in no uncertain terms that they would have to obey orders. India lost the Test by 158 runs but fought gallantly and created a tremendous impression on both the fans and experts.Thus was saved both the Lord’s Test and India’s honour. But it was a close shave.The writer is a senior sports journalist and author based in New Delhi. His latest book is titled What If…? The Counter-Factual History of Indian Cricket