Murder, violence and racial tension: England’s tour to India was one of the most dramatic in recent history. The cricket was not bad, either, with David Gower’s team pulling off a remarkable comeback.

England arrived in Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday, October 31, 1984. The plan was a quiet night’s sleep and gentle introduction to the tour. It was not to be. India was plunged into turmoil when the premier, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by one of her Sikh bodyguards.

Tony Brown (England tour manager): I was woken up by the telephone ringing. I didn’t really know where I was and the person asked for Graham Morris. The caller told me Mrs Gandhi had been assassinated. I immediately woke up then. I told David Gower but we didn’t wake the lads up straight away.

Graeme Fowler (England batsman): I remember getting in the lift to go down for breakfast and an American in there said: “You guys have picked a great time to come to India.” I had no idea what he was talking about until he said Mrs Gandhi had been shot.

The squad were left kicking their heels in the hotel and friction soon developed.

TB: The players called a meeting and Allan Lamb said they wanted to go home. I explained to them what we were doing and there was no reason for anyone to be frightened. I offered them their passports and said they were free to go.

GF: Tony Brown really lost it. He asked us what our thoughts were. We all sat down and had a chat and then called Brown in and told him that there was no point staying. We were willing to go anywhere to get some practice until it calmed down. We did not want to go home. Brown, who could be a lovely guy, came in with a pile of passports and said we could all f*** off then.

England were advised that it would be unwise to leave before Gandhi’s funeral while there was civil unrest on the streets.

GF: We didn’t have a clue what was going on. We ended up getting more information from people in London than in India.

Colin Bateman (Daily Express): We saw several incidents of Sikh rickshaws and businesses being torched. We went to the hospital where Mrs Gandhi had been taken and Graham Morris was taking pictures when the crowd turned on us. They grabbed Graham’s camera and came after us. We ran round the corner and thankfully our taxi driver was waiting with the doors open and the engine running.

A two-week period of national mourning was announced. Unable to train, England were invited to Sri Lanka. They played two warm-up matches in Colombo before returning to India.

TB: We realised we had to get out if we were going to prepare for the first Test. Once Mrs Gandhi’s funeral was out of the way, we slipped away. The moment we arrived in Colombo, though, somebody bombed the bus station. But at least we were able to practise for a few days. While we were in Sri Lanka we heard that Martyn Moxon’s father had died.