IN REMEMBRANCE - INDIAN TEST CRICKETERS

🏏🏏 V. B. RANJANE (22 Jul 1937 – 22 Dec 2011) Another talented new-ball bowler who unfortunately played most of his Test cricket on dead batting tracks or spin oriented pitches, and at a time when the Indian opening bowler's function was limited to just a few overs to take the shine off the ball, Pune born Vasant Baburao Ranjane was a right-arm medium pace swing bowler who played in 7 Tests between 1958 and 1964... Ranjane made his Test debut at Kanpur in December 1958 against the mighty West Indies, and played his last Test at Madras in October 1964 against Australia... His only away Test was against the West Indies in 1961-62 (series of the unfortunate Nari Contractor near-fatal injury fame) where he recorded his best Test bowling figures. Playing the final Test of that series at Kingston, Ranjane claimed the wickets of Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers and Frank Worrell... He scored 40 Test runs with a top score of 16, 19 wickets @34.15 a piece with 4/72...

🏏🏏🏑🏑 M. J. GOPALAN (6 Jun 1906/9 - 21 Dec 2003) A multi-sporting personality from the erstwhile Madras State, Morapakkam Josyam Gopalan from Chingleput district performed in an era where sport used to be an art irrespective of outcomes... A right-handed allrounder who bowled medium pace, capable of moving the ball both ways, he represented India both in cricket and in hockey... Discovered by one of the founding fathers of Madras cricket, C. P. Johnstone, Gopalan made his first class debut for Madras Presidency against the Europeans in 1926/27, shining with the cherry, literally, with 5 wickets in each innings and match figures of 10/153... Another two performances in 1930 for Madras against Vizianagaram XI which included Jack Hobbs, and the first hat trick in Chepauk against Ceylon in 1933 propelled him into the reckoning... Gopalan played his only Test in January 1934 against England at Calcutta. He scored 11* and 7, got one wicket in the...

🏏🏏 V. S. HAZARE (11 Mar 1915 – 18 Dec 2004) One of India's finest exponents of the willow, Sangli born right-handed Vijay Samuel Hazare was an effective right-arm medium pace bowler as well, especially in the domestic circuit... Hazare made his Test debut in June 1946 against England at Lord's, and played his last in March 1953 against West Indies at Kingston... Representing India in 30 Tests Hazare scored 2192 runs @47.65, with 7 hundreds and 9 fifties, with highest as 164*, claimed 20 wickets @61.00, and 11 catches... One of the first cricketer-recipients of the Padma Shri (in 1960 along with Jasubhai M. Patel) Hazare has several other firsts to his credit. I hereby list a few ones of prominence... The skipper of 14 Tests from 1951 to 1953, Hazare led India to her first ever Test win (and the only one as a captain) against England at Madras in 1951-52, incidentally India's 25th Test match, won by an innings and 8 runs, the first day of whi...

🏏🏏 M. R. REGE (18 Mar 1924 – 16 Dec 2013) The mainstay of Maharashtra's batting then, Panvel born Madhusudan Ramchandra Rege was another 'only debut Test' player, unfortunate in the sense that he found himself amidst almost seven batting greats of his times, including the three Vijays, a Polly and a Pankaj... Rege made his first class debut aged 19 against Nawanagar as a low order batsman, but acquired the opener's role from the second game. His unbeaten 200 for Indian Universities against Lindsay Hasset's Australian Services and his maiden first class hundred (101) against Europeans in the Pentangular shot Rege into prominence...  His debut and only Test was, unfortunately, something Rege himself would have probably admitted, a forgettable one. It was against John Goddard's West Indies, January 1949 at Madras. Opening the batting, he could manage just 15 and 0 as India went down by an innings and 193 runs, and Rege never played for India again... ...

🏏🏏 T. E. SRINIVASAN (26 Oct 1950 - 6 Dec 2010) Tirumalai Echambadi Srinivasan, for whom batting came almost naturally, the elegant right hander from Tamil Nadu made the task of scoring runs appear so very simple. Despite being spotted early, TE blossomed a trifle late, and with a Test debut at 31 he remained the near perfect batsman that India did not utilize... With ML Jaisimha as his idol, TE began his first class career for Tamil Nadu from the 1970/71 season. His 3487 runs from 75 games @34.18, 149 his top score, 5 hundreds and 16 fifties and 62 catches till his retirement in the 1983/84 season, fail to mirror, in all fairness, his talent and potential... Scoring 29 and 19 in his only Test (against New Zealand in Auckland, 1981) and a total of 10 in two ODIs one each against Australia and New Zealand, the selectors opted for a less accomplished batsman who could also turn his arm around for the following home series, and TE was a forgotten ...

🏏🏏 A. L. WADEKAR (1 Apr 1941 - 15 Aug 2018) Having played at a time when cricket used to still be the gentleman's game, Bombay southpaw Ajit Laxman Wadekar was one of India's most reliable one drop batsmen, endowed with one of the safest pair of hands in the slip positions... Beginning his first class career for Bombay in the 1958–59 season, Wadekar made his Test debut perhaps a bit late, against the West Indies at Brabourne Stadium in December 1966, and ODI debut in 1974 against England at Headingley... In an international career from 1966 to 1974 Wadekar played 37 Tests and 2 ODIs, captaining India from 1971 till he called it quits in 1974. He scored 2113 runs @31.07 with a topscore of 143, a hundred and 14 fifties and 46 catches... Making cricketing history by leading India to her sensational first-ever Test series win against Garry Sobers's mighty West Indies in 1971, followed by another big triumph over Ray Illingworth's England in...