A. K. ROY


🏏🏏
A. K. ROY
(5 Jun 1945 - 19 Sep 1997)

Of the three related Roys who have served India in the Test cricket arena, left-handed Ambar Khirid Roy is regarded in many quarters as the most talented strokeplayer Bengal has ever produced. Though his feet seldom seemed to move, Roy possessed the uncanny ability to caress the cherry with minimal effort, bisecting fielders with marksmanlike precision...

It was said of Roy that he was almost a non-believer of net-practice, that he used to doze in the dressing-room, and that his teammates used to wake him up when it was his turn to be at the crease. Out in the middle he would duly enthrall the crowds with some breathtaking strokes and then, just as they expected him to make it big, he would play the most ridiculous of shots to get out. Back in the dressing room he would relax with a smoke, whatever may be the match situation. That's the way Ambar Roy performed, detached from all tensions...

An aggregate of 91 runs from four Tests, 48 as highest, evidently does not do justice to his talent...

His Test career ended after having played two tests each against Graham Dowling's New Zealand and Bill Lawry's Australia in 1969, but Roy continued with Bengal till the 77-78 domestic season...

In the domestic circuit Roy scored 7163 runs from 132 games, 18 centuries and 32 fifties with 197 as his highest, 83 catches, 2 stumpings and 29 wickets...

Serving as a Bengal selector for 15 years, Roy is regarded as the person to spot Sourav Ganguly. He was the Indian selector from 1984 to 1986. He along with Chandu Borde, Hanumant Singh, Kripal Singh, and Bishan Bedi formed the panel that decided to drop Kapil Dev for the 1984-85 Test at Eden Gardens against England...

Diagnosed with a serious heart condition, the 'lazy-elegant' Roy breathed his last after a heart-attack (though for some reason Wisden attributes it to malaria) this day in 1997, in Kolkata, at the tender age of 52...

The Under-14 Sub-Junior and Under-17 Junior tournaments in Bengal have been named after him...

🙏🙏🌹💐    🇮🇳

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

D. N. SARDESAI

Image
🏏🏏 D. N. SARDESAI (8 Aug 1940 - 2 Jul 2007)  The only cricketer from Goa to play for India in Tests, Margao born Dilip Narayan Sardesai was a technically sound right-handed wristy specialist batsman with the ability to play both spin and pace with equal ease. He was the first Indian batsman to score a double century in an overseas Test, with his epic 212 at Kingston, Jamaica...  Sardesai's Test debut in 1961, and his final game in 1972, both were against England at Kanpur and Delhi respectively... In 30 Tests Sardesai scored 2001 runs @39.23 with 5 hundreds and 9 fifties, 212 as highest, and 4 catches... Playing for Bombay and West Zone in the domestic circuit from 1961 to 1973, Sardesai scored 10,230 runs from 179 first class games @41.75 with 25 hundreds and 56 fifties, highest being 222, and 85 catches. Bombay won all the 10 finals they reached out of the 13 seasons that Sardesai played for them...  Sardesai replaced Nari Contractor after the ...
Read more

A. M. MANKAD

Image
🏏🏏 A. M. MANKAD (12 Oct 1946 – 1 Aug 2008) Ashok Mulvantrai Mankad, fondly known as Kaka, was the eldest son of the illustrious Vinoo Mankad. His siblings Atul and Rahul played first class cricket; his better half Nirupama and sons Mihir and Harsh were renowned tennis players of their times... There are several quarters who still consider Mankad, the victorious Bombay skipper of 1974-75 and 1975-76, as the greatest captain India had produced but never had, often in comparison with England's Mike Brearley... Primarily a right handed middle-order batsman, Mankad had held all positions from No.1 to No.8, and could turn his arm around with some medium stuff and off cutters as well. Making his way duly through the Harris Shield, Under-19 and Rohinton Baria tourneys, Mankad made his first class debut just a week before he turned 17... He made his Test debut, along with Chetan Chauhan and Ajit Pai, in September 1969 against Graham Do...
Read more

GHULAM AHMED

Image
  🏏🏏 GHULAM AHMED (4 Jul 1922 - 28 Oct 1998)  The gentleman cricketer from Hyderabad, right-arm slow Ghulam Ahmed, was regarded as an off-spinner of the highest class, the first ever to play for India. His easy action helped in good control over line and length. Representing India for a decade, he along with Vinoo Mankad and Subhash Gupte, formed the first great Indian spin trio...  By sheer coincidence of sorts, Ghulam Ahmed's debut and final Tests were against the West Indies, on the same ground, Delhi, exactly a decade apart - 31st December 1948 and 1958 respectively... Ghulam Ahmed toured England in 1952 and Pakistan in 1954-55. He captained India in 3 Tests -  a drawn Test against New Zealand in 1955-56, and found himself on the losing side in two against the West Indies in 1958-59... Ghulam Ahmed played in the inaugural Test between India and Pakistan in 1952-53, Delhi, which India won. A memorable one for him as he took five wickets and scored 50 at ...
Read more