When two Indian cricketers insulted the tricolor, had to flee to Pakistan

New Delhi: It has been 75 years since India got independence. The Amrit Mahotsav of Independence (Azadi ka amrit mahotsav) is being celebrated. Tricolor is being hoisted in every house. After independence, the country raised flags of success in every field and cricket is not untouched by it. Many historical moments like 1983, 2007 and 2011 make Indians proud. Indian cricketers consider it an honor to play with the tricolor on their chest. But there was a time when two Indian players refused to salute our national flag during the series.

It is from 1947-48. India had to make its first foreign tour after independence. Although the Indian team was playing cricket since 1932, but this time the independent Indian cricket team was not a slave. Lala Amarnath was made the captain for this Australia tour. The three-Test series was the real test of Indian players, this was the first time that the Indian team played on Australian wickets. Fighting against a team led by the great batsman Don Bradman was not easy at all. India managed to win a one match draw. Australia won the series 2–0.

The tour became infamous for Don Bradman’s batting and the misbehavior of two players more than India’s win-win. Actually, the third and last Test match of the tour was to be held in Melbourne, but two days before that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in India. There was panic among the Indian players, because the atmosphere of the country was equally bad. The country was grappling with Hindu-Muslim riots. The atmosphere was heated up by the murder of Bapu from above. There was talk of canceling the tour, but in the end it was decided that the Indian players would play the match with a black band on their arm and would pay tribute to Gandhi ji by saluting the tricolor.

So far everything was fine, but two players of the Indian team flatly refused to do so. These were Amir Elahi coming from Baroda and Gul Mohammad from Hyderabad. Both the players born in Lahore were influenced by Jinnah and wanted to return to India and take citizenship of Pakistan and settle there. But then the captain, Lala Amarnath, had told a lot about both of them, they could not tolerate the insult of his tricolor. He said that after returning home, Gul and Elahi may play for the country, but at the moment both are representing India.