The Indian national cricket team toured England in the 1946 season and played 29 first-class fixtures with 11 wins, 4 defeats and 14 draws. The 1946 season marked a return to normal first-class cricket in England following the end of World War II. The Test series between England and India was the first to be played in England since the West Indies tour in 1939. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn, their success largely due to the impact of debutant Alec Bedser who took 22 wickets in his first two Tests.

Conditions in 1946 The Second World War in Europe having ended in May 1945, it was only possible to arrange eleven first-class matches in the 1945 English cricket season and so 1946, despite postwar recovery and continued rationing, was the first season in which a normal schedule of matches could be established in the County Championship and in Test cricket with the arrival of the Indian tourists.

In its review of the 1946 season, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack remarked that "the Indians were the first postwar touring side, and although they were outplayed in the Tests they raised the status and the dignity of their country's sport". Wisden also mentioned that "the weather in 1946 might have been dreadful, but it didn't stop the crowds flocking to games". The state of the weather was mentioned by John Arlott who wrote his first match report for The Guardian when the Indians played Worcestershire at New Road, Worcester on 4, 6 and 7 May. Arlott wrote that "New Road was bleak that Saturday morning... dark under the cloud, it was swept by a bitter gale howling across from Diglis".Arlott, pp. 256–257 In his review of the tour, S. Canynge Caple wrote that the Indian tourists were very popular, their tour returning a sizeable profit, because large crowds turned out when the weather was fine in an otherwise "extremely dreary summer".Caple, p. 76.

Derek Birley commented on the wider and political background to the tour. In January 1946, the Imperial Cricket Conference had drawn up a seven-year programme of Test series with India selected to make the first postwar tour of England. This, Birley remarked, despite the "mounting political crisis at home" and the grave shortage of equipment and clothing "in rationed and straitened Britain". It was the last Indian team before Partition and it presented a united front.Birley, p. 272.

Indian squad India used a 16-man squad captained by Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, who was one of the few players to represent two countries in Test cricket, having played for England during the 1930s.

Squad details below state the player's age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his Ranji Trophy team at the time:

+ Batsmen Name Ranji Trophy Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Nawab of Pataudi unattached right-handed none V. S. Hazare Baroda right-handed right arm medium pace V. M. Merchant Bombay right-handed right arm medium pace R. S. Modi Bombay right-handed right arm medium pace S. Mushtaq Ali Holkar right-handed slow left arm orthodox spin

+ All-rounders Name Ranji Trophy Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Abdul Hafeez unattached left-handed slow left arm orthodox spin L. Amarnath unattached right-handed right arm medium pace Gul Mohammad Baroda left-handed left arm medium pace M. H. Mankad Gujarat right-handed slow left arm orthodox spin C. T. Sarwate Holkar right-handed off break

+ Wicket-keepers Name Ranji Trophy Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref D. D. Hindlekar Bombay right-handed none R. B. Nimbalkar Baroda right-handed none

+ Bowlers Name Ranji Trophy Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref S. N. Banerjee Bihar right-handed right arm fast-medium pace C. S. Nayudu Holkar right-handed leg break and googly S. G. Shinde Maharashtra right-handed leg break and googly S. W. Sohoni Maharashtra right-handed right arm fast-medium pace and off break

The team relied heavily on all-rounders and some of those listed above as batsmen or bowlers had all-round ability. All except Banerjee and Nimbalkar played in the Test series. The team was largely inexperienced at international level as only six players had made their Test debuts before the Second World War: Pataudi, Amarnath, Hindlekar, Merchant, Mushtaq Ali and Nayudu. In the first Test, which India lost heavily, the team had six debutants: Abdul Hafeez, Gul Mohammad, Hazare, Mankad, Modi and Shinde.

England selections England staged two Test trials, the first in June a week before the First Test and the second in July a week before the Second Test. It was seven years since England had last played a Test match and there was a winter tour of Australia to come so the selectors wanted to look at a large number of players to try and quickly establish the best possible team. A total of 35 players were used in the two Test trials and, in the end, England used 19 players in the three Test matches, with as many as 10 making only a single appearance.

The details for each player below state his age at the beginning of the Indian tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his County Championship club at the time:

+ Batsmen Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref D. C. S. Compton Middlesex right-handed slow left-arm wrist-spin W. J. Edrich Middlesex right-handed right arm fast-medium pace L. B. Fishlock Surrey left-handed slow left arm orthodox spin W. R. Hammond Gloucestershire right-handed right arm fast-medium pace J. Hardstaff Nottinghamshire right-handed right arm medium pace L. Hutton Yorkshire right-handed leg break C. Washbrook Lancashire right-handed right arm medium pace

+ All-rounders Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref J. T. Ikin Lancashire left-handed leg break and googly J. Langridge Sussex left-handed slow left arm orthodox spin T. F. Smailes Yorkshire left-handed right arm medium pace T. P. B. Smith Essex right-handed leg break and googly

+ Wicket-keepers Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref T. G. Evans Kent right-handed leg break P. A. Gibb Yorkshire right-handed none

+ Bowlers Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref A. V. Bedser Surrey right-handed right arm medium-fast pace Who's Who of Cricketers, p.86. W. E. Bowes Yorkshire right-handed right arm fast-medium pace A. R. Gover Surrey right-handed right arm fast R. Pollard Lancashire right-handed right arm fast-medium pace W. E. Voce Nottinghamshire right-handed left arm fast-medium pace D. V. P. Wright Kent right-handed leg break and googly

Tour itinerary The following is a list of the 33 matches played by the 1946 Indians. 29 including the three Test matches were first-class fixtures. The four minor games are listed in italics. Date Match title Venue Result 4 May Worcestershire v Indians New Road, Worcester Worcestershire won by 16 runs 8 May Oxford University v Indians The Parks, Oxford Match drawn 11 May Surrey v Indians The Oval, London Indians won by 9 wickets 15 May Cambridge University v Indians Fenner's, Cambridge Indians won by an innings and 19 runs 18 May Leicestershire v Indians Grace Road, Leicester Match drawn 22 May Scotland v Indians Myreside, Edinburgh Indians won by an innings and 56 runs 25 May Marylebone Cricket Club v Indians Lord's Cricket Ground, London Indians won by an innings and 194 runs 29 May Indian Gymkhana v Indians Indian Gymkhana Cricket Club Ground, Osterley Indians won by 4 wickets 1 June Hampshire v Indians County Ground, Southampton Indians won by 6 wickets 8 June Glamorgan v Indians Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Match drawn 12 June Combined Services v Indians United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth Match drawn 15 June Nottinghamshire v Indians Trent Bridge, Nottingham Match drawn 22 June England v India (First Test) Lord's Cricket Ground, London England won by 10 wickets 26 June Northamptonshire v Indians County Cricket Ground, Northampton Match drawn 29 June Lancashire v Indians Aigburth Cricket Ground, Liverpool Indians won by 8 wickets 3 July Yorkshire v Indians Park Avenue, Bradford Yorkshire won by an innings and 82 runs 6 July Lancashire v Indians Old Trafford, Manchester Match drawn 10 July Derbyshire v Indians Queen's Park, Chesterfield Indians won by 118 runs 13 July Yorkshire v Indians Bramall Lane, Sheffield Match drawn 17 July Durham v Indians Ashbrooke Sports Ground, Sunderland Match drawn 20 July England v India (Second Test) Old Trafford, Manchester Match drawn 25 July Club Cricket Conference v Indians Woodbridge Road, Guildford Match drawn 27 July Sussex v Indians County Cricket Ground, Hove Indians won by 9 wickets 31 July Somerset v Indians County Ground, Taunton Somerset won by an innings and 11 runs 3 August Glamorgan v Indians St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground, Swansea Indians won by 5 wickets 7 August Warwickshire v Indians Edgbaston, Birmingham Match drawn 10 August Gloucestershire v Indians College Ground, Cheltenham Match drawn 17 August England v India (Third Test) The Oval, London Match drawn 24 August Essex v Indians Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea Indians won by 1 wicket 28 August Kent v Indians St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Match drawn 31 August Middlesex v Indians Lord's Cricket Ground, London Indians won by an innings and 263 runs 4 September South v Indians Central Recreation Ground, Hastings Indians won by 10 runs 7 September H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI v Indians North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough Match drawn

Test series England and India played three Tests between June and August. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn: First Test at Lord's: England won by 10 wickets Second Test at Old Trafford: match drawn Third Test at The Oval: match drawn

First Test

Mainstays of the England team who each played in all three Tests were captain Wally Hammond, opening batsmen Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook, middle order batsman Denis Compton and opening pace bowler Alec Bedser. For the first Test at Lord's, England had only three debutants compared with India's six. Bedser and batting all-rounder Jack Ikin were the only "new" players in that they had made two and five first-class appearances respectively before the war and each of them was now in his first full season. The third debutant was veteran seam bowler Frank Smailes who had been playing regularly for Yorkshire since 1932. England's other four players in this match were experienced pre-war players: batsman Joe Hardstaff junior, wicket-keeper Paul Gibb, leg spinner Doug Wright and pace bowler Bill Bowes.

India's six debutants were Gul Mohammad, Abdul Hafeez, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Rusi Modi and Sadu Shinde. The rest of the team were captain Pataudi, who was making his first appearance for India; Lala Amarnath, Dattaram Hindlekar, Vijay Merchant and C. S. Nayudu.