Saurashtra's cricketing heroes: From Ranjitsinhji to Mankad to Pujara

As Rajkot’s SCA Stadium makes its Test debut with the India vs England opening clash tomorrow, mid-day focuses on the region’s leading cricketers, who went on to play the highest form of the game

Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji  in the early 1900s

Rajkot: As Rajkot is all set to stage its first ever Test match, between India and England from tomorrow, happy memories of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji as well as others from Saurashtra who represented the country warm the cockles of the hearts of the region’s cricket enthusiasts.

Though hailing from Jamnagar, Ranji and Duleep dedicated themselves to English cricket. Ranji in particular was never interested in Indian cricket; not even after his playing days. He was said to have rudely turned down the then Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) supremo Anthony D’Mello’s request to help Indian cricket. “Duleep and I are English cricketers and we’ve nothing whatsoever to do with Indian cricket,” said Ranji to a stunned D’Mello. 

Ranji, the autocrat

But the BCCI named the national championship, Ranji Trophy, after this great batsman but controversial king which some historians described him as an autocrat.

Of course, Duleep did serve Indian cricket, first as a coach and then as chairman of the national selection committee. Amarsinh Nakum (this is how his name ought to be written, according to his late son Vijay, and not as Amar Singh; he was a Gujarati, not Punjabi) was India’s first genuine, world-class all-rounder. He belonged to Rajkot.

Nakum with Mohammad Nissar formed India’s most lethal pair of fast bowlers. His elder brother Ramji Nakum, also from Rajkot, was an awesome fast bowler with speed, height and a physique to die for.

Mankad magic

Vinoo Mankad playing in the 1952 series vs England

Saurashtra gave another gifted all-rounder to Indian and world cricket — Vinoo Mankad — immediately after World War II. Mankad, who was from Jamnagar, was a right-hand batsman and left-arm orthodox spinner. He was a fine fielder, too, particularly off his own bowling.

Mankad’s achievements are as legendary as the man himself. He had scored scorching Test centuries against Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller Down Under in 1947-48. In the 1952 Lord’s Test, known as Mankad’s Test, he made 72 and 184 and bowled 97 overs for 231 runs and five wickets.

The highly-gifted Ravindra Jadeja 

There are shades of Mankad in whatever the young Ravindra Jadeja does on the field. Jadeja, also from Jamnagar, bowls left-arm spin but bats left-handed. Like Mankad, he has no particular choice in the batting order. And he is a far better all-round fielder than Mankad ever was. Mankad graced more than half-a-dozen teams in domestic cricket! Mankad’s competitor and contemporary Nyalchand Shah hailed from the erstwhile princely state of Dhrangadhra. He was a great left-arm spinner in his own right but Mankad’s ‘all-round’ presence in the Indian team meant he finished his career with a solitary Test.

Jamnagar gave yet another top notch all-rounder in Salim Durani. Coached by Mankad, he was a genius in the true sense of the term. Though Durani had many spells of moderate to huge success, you could not help feeling that he did not do full justice to his own sublime skills because of his happy-go-lucky approach to both life and cricket.

Ranji’s nephew Kumar Shri Indrajitsinhji, also from Jamnagar, played four Tests in the 1960s as a fairly decent wicketkeeper and batsman. He was not only sandwiched between the more flamboyant Farokh Engineer and Budhi Kunderan but also overshadowed by their brilliance with the willow. He represented Delhi and Saurashtra in first-class cricket.

Karsan Ghavri

Another left-handed all rounder to step out from Rajkot was Karsan Ghavri. Besides his customary medium-paced bowling and useful batting, his intelligent left-arm spin gave him an edge over others at times. Ghavri had formed a successful new-ball pair with Kapil Dev in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Like most players from Saurashtra, the southpaw also got to play for India only after he began representing other side in domestic cricket. In Ghavri’s case it was Mumbai. Much the same could be said about the former India left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi, born in Rajkot, and Ajay Jadeja, born in Jamnagar.

While Doshi represented Bengal, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire before playing for India at the age of 32 and yet taking 100-odd wickets, Jadeja played for Haryana and finished his international career by appearing in 15 Tests and 196 one-day internationals. Kumar Shri Yujurvindrasinh, prince of the erstwhile Bilkha state near the Gir forest, was so superb in the field. He made his debut in the 1976-77 series against England. Yajurvindra took seven catches in his very first Test, against England at Bangalore and equalled the then existing world record.

Rajkot-born Parsana

Dhiraj Parsana, born in Rajkot, represented Saurashtra, Gujarat, Railways and Durham in first-class cricket as a left-arm spinner, medium-pacer and useful batsman. He played two Tests against the West Indies at home in 1978-79 without much success.

Pujara’s classy batting will be on view in Rajkot 

Bhavnagar’s Ashok Patel was the last player from Saurashtra, before the latest triumvirate of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Jaydev Unadkat (the medium-pacer played one Test against SA in 2010), to represent the country.

A genuine off-spinner and more than useful batsman down the order, Patel played eight ODIs in the mid-1980s. Of course, there were others who were richly talented and were simply unlucky not to have played for the country for non-cricketing reasons like Hiralal Trivedi, D Narottam, Naishadh Baxi, Mulubha Jadeja, Vajesinh Nakum, Uday Joshi, Rajendra Jadeja, Naresh Parsana, Suresh Keshwala, Bimal Jadeja, Brij Dutta, Sudhir Tanna, Hitesh Parsana, Sitanshu Kotak and Sandeep Jobanputra.

But the scenario is fast changing now. Pujara and Jadeja, who have inspired a whole new generation of budding cricketers and now the Test match in Rajkot, are bound to change the fortunes of Saurashtra players when it comes to representing India.

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