IN REMEMBRANCE - INDIAN TEST CRICKETERS

M. L. APTE (5 Oct 1932 - 23 Sep 2019) Starting off as a legspinner in his schooldays, Madhavrao Laxmanrao Apte, the technically correct opener from Bombay hit a century on debut in the Ranji Trophy game against Saurashtra in the 1951-52 season, playing in place of the injured Vijay Merchant... Making his Test debut against Pakistan in November 1952, he became the automatic choice as an opener for the inaugural away tour of West Indies that followed in January 1953... Scoring 460 runs @51.11 Madhav Apte was second only to Polly Umrigar, ahead of Hazare, Mankad, Roy and Manjrekar. However, despite his match saving century he was, inexplicably and unceremoniously, dropped from the national side and never played an official Test thereafter. Nevertheless, Apte continued with Bombay, being the occasional skipper as well, with enthusiasm and fervour till the late sixties... With 542 from 7 Tests, which included a ton (163*) and 3 fifties,...

🏏🏏 MANSUR ALI KHAN OF PATAUDI (5 Jan 1941 - 22 Sep 2011) Mohammed Mansur Ali Khan Siddiqui, the erstwhile ninth Nawab of Pataudi, the youngest and the 14th Indian Test captain, began his first class career with Sussex in 1957 at the age of 16... An injured right eye in early 1961 left him with only the left for his entire international career. Leading India in 40 out of the 46 Tests that he played, he scored 2793 runs with 6 centuries and 16 fifties, an unbeaten 203 being the highest. In 310 first class appearances, which included Oxford University, Sussex, Delhi and Hyderabad, he totaled 15425 runs with 33 hundreds and 75 fifties... He made his debut against England in the Delhi Test, December 1961. His match winning ton at Madras in that series earned him the vice-captain's spot, which did not last long as he had to take over the reigns from the injured skipper Nari Contractor during the 1962 West Indies tour. His last Test was at Bombay, against Clive Lloyd...