PRINCE OF VIZIANAGRAM - VIZZY


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PRINCE OF VIZIANAGRAM - VIZZY
(28 Dec 1905 - 2 Dec 1965) 

Perhaps the only Indian cricketer who had hardly anything to boast of by way of positive exploits on the cricket pitch, Lieutenant Colonel Pusapati Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju, popularly known as "Vizzy" was the son of Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju, the ruler of Vizianagram...

In the strong words of cricket writer Abhishek Mukherjee -

"he was the second son, and did not inherit his father's kingdom and went on to ruin Indian cricket instead. The most undeserving of all Indian cricketers who brought shame and ridicule to the nation. There may have been worse cricketers than Vizzy, but few as evil."

Known in several circles as "the prince who paid rather than played", the shrewd and calculative organiser Vizzy formed his own cricket team in 1926, constructing a ground in his palace compounds and recruiting players from India and abroad. Being at loggerheads with the Maharaja of Patiala - a worthy and wealthy cricket patron - right from the beginning, Vizzy had to bite the dust a few times... 

Vizzy reportedly manipulated his wealth and contacts to propel himself into the corridors of power of Indian cricket, though possessing minimal cricketing abilities. Having bought the post of the 'Deputy Vice-Captain' for the inaugural tour of England in 1932, Vizzy withdrew on (questionable) reasons of health and form... 

Purchasing once again the skipper's post for the 1936 tour of England, he managed to make a huge mess of the whole series, including feuds between illustrious teammates C. K. Nayudu, Lala Amarnath, Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Merchant, all of which brought huge discredit to the Indian team. Mercifully, Vizzy did not play for India again... 

Despite lacking proficiency in batting, bowling or fielding, and perhaps the only cricketer to be knighted just after his debut in 1936, (he renounced the title after India's independence) Vizzy will go down in history, inarguably, as the topmost name in any list of 'Test captains who should never have been.'... 

Had Vizzy's competence as a cricketer matched his craftiness to pull the threads from behind the curtains, he might have been recognized as one of the greatest ever. That was not destined to happen...

He amassed 33 runs @8.25 from 3 Tests with 19* as highest and took a catch. He scored 1,228 runs at 18.60 from 47 first class matches, 77 as highest with 5 half-tons, 4 wickets and 18 catches... 

Maintaining a low profile for almost two decades Vizzy made an admirable administerial comeback with the distinction of being the first Test captain to occupy the post of the BCCI President (1954 to 1957), Sourav Ganguly the being the second...

Earlier, as the vice-president of the BCCI in 1952, Vizzy managed to bring back Lala Amarnath as the Indian captain...

He successfully promoted cricket in Uttar Pradesh, making Kanpur's Green Park a centre for Test cricket...

He was instrumental in C. K. Nayudu captaining Uttar Pradesh in the 1956–57 season when the latter was aged 61...

He developed cricket in South India and was President of Mysore cricket association...

He was the Vice Chairman of the All India Council of Sports... 

He played a key role in promoting football in Visakhapatnam... 

He was a Padma Bhushan awardee, in 1958...

He held the commentator's mike as well, but failed to find favour with the listeners... 

Vizzy was the member of the Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam in the early 60s...

The Vizzy Trophy is a zonal inter-university tournament in his honour... 

That in short sums up the achievements of a rather controversial figure in the history of Indian cricket. Vizzy, with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree conferred upon him by the Benares University in 1944, passed away on 2 December 1965, in that same city... 

Mihir Bose, the British Indian journalist, wrote in his book 'A History of Indian Cricket' - 

"If Vizzy had been content with being such a cricket sponsor like Sir Horatio Mann in the eighteenth century, or Sir Julien Cahn in the twentieth, his name would be one of the most revered in Indian cricket. But he was consumed with the ambition to be a great cricketer"...

🙏🙏🌹💐

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