L. P. JAI

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L. P. JAI
(1 Apr 1902 - 29 Jan 1968)

Beating Northern India, Bombay, led by Laxmidas Purshottamdas Jai, was the first team to win the Ranji Trophy in March 1935...

Literally a superstar of yesteryears, the man whom Vijay Merchant called his guru, and who was regarded as one of the finest and elegant strokeplayers in the Bombay Quadrangular, had L. P. Jai not pulled out of the England tour of 1932, and not suffered an injury on the 1936 one, he wouldn't have been an one Test wonder...

Jai's only Test - the first ever on Indian soil - was against England at Bombay, in December 1933, where he scored just 19 runs. India lost the Test by 9 wickets despite Lala Amarnath's memorable century on debut...

Playing for almost over two decades (1920-21 to 1941-42) in an era of not too much of first class cricket, only 67 of Jai's games received status recognition. He scored 3,231 runs @31.99 with 6 hundreds and 19 fifties, 3 wickets and 26 catches, teams represented being Hindus and Bombay...

Known for his finesse in almost everything that he did, Jai's wrist-work and strokeplay were compared with KS Ranjitsinhji's and CK Nayudu's respectively. Several cricket writers and players cutting across all barriers were all praises, right from his walk to the crease, stance, footwork, to stroke execution, everything used to be just perfect, in addition to his being a sportsman to the core...

An average of just around 32 is no indication of Jai's class. Batting came naturally to him, and not being after any records Jai didn't have any great scores against his name. His tendency to throw his wicket away to poor strokes and undeserving deliveries used to be his undoing. His 'disciple' Vijay Merchant had this to say about Jai:
"Had Jai possessed the patience and concentration of a Hazare, he would have scored more runs than any other Indian cricketer."
One could perhaps say the same about G. R. Viswanath as well later, on the same lines...

Apart from cricket, Jai was fairly good at lawn tennis and badminton. Also, he was eleven times billiards champion of Hindu Gymkhana. In addition Jai was a renowned philatelist and an amateur photographer...

Jai worked for State Bank of India, and also served as a National Selector till the late 50s. He also held the posts of Vice-President of Bombay Cricket Association and Hindu Gymkhana...

Jai passed away in Bombay, on January 29 1968, after a severe cardiac arrest. He was reportedly listening to the commentary on the Sydney Test between India and Australia before breathing his last. He was 65...

The award for the fastest hundred in Ranji Trophy was instituted as a fitting tribute in memory of the delectable batting artiste, Laxmidas Purshottamdas Jai...

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