A. M. MANKAD

🏏🏏

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 Dowling's New Zealand at Bombay. He played his last Test against Simpson's Australia in January 1978 at Sydney...

In 22 Tests Mankad scored 991 runs @25.41 with 6 fifties, 97 being his highest and took 12 catches. He and Chetan Chauhan were two of Gavaskar's regular opening partners who failed to score a century in Tests. Incidentally, Chauhan's highest Test score was also 97...

Though Mankad failed to impress in his debut series, his purple patch followed soon against Bill Lawry's Australia at home, under Mansoor Ali Khan of Pataudi, and the famous 1971 West Indies tour, under Ajit Wadekar...

He played just the one ODI for India against England in 1974 at Kensington Oval where he performed pretty well, scoring 44 and scalping a wicket as well...

Though he somewhat failed to realize his full potential in the international arena, Mankad’s performance for Bombay and West Zone had been exemplary. In a first class career spanning for almost two decades (1963/64 - 1982/83) Mankad amassed 12980 runs @50.90 from 218 games with 31 hundreds and 70 fifties, 265 being his highest, 72 wickets and 126 catches...

The popular concept that the captain isn't the most popular man in the dressing room was perhaps bowled-over by Mankad with his terrific sense of humour. The Bombay skipper was an excellent reader of men, and equipped with excellent talent-spotting abilities in addition to being an astute strategist...

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Mankad was unfortunate to not really enjoy the confidence of the selectors, to not being given a fixed batting slot in his 22 Tests which was spread over almost a decade. Often he was picked for just a Test or two of a series. Though not in the class of his father, Mankad possessed a wide repertoire of strokes and the talent to have gone farther than he eventually did...

Mankad who served as India team manager, as coach of Mumbai and Baroda Ranji teams, and as a commentator post-retirement, passed away peacefully in his sleep, this day, in Mumbai, in the year 2008. He was just 61...

🙏🙏🌹💐    🇮🇳

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 latter'
Read more

C. P. S. CHAUHAN

Image
C. P. S. CHAUHAN (21 Jul 1947 - 16 Aug 2020) Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan played both his first and last Tests against New Zealand. Making his debut in 1969 in the first Test in Bombay against Graham Dowling's team, he signed off after the third Test against Geoff Howarth's eleven at Auckland in 1981... As a collegian in Pune, he initially represented Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy, and later on, Delhi. Most of his Test appearances were in the late 1970s, being the regular opening partner of the "Little Master" Sunil Gavaskar... Opening the innings in 40 Tests, Chauhan scored 2084 runs, the highest being 97. With 16 fifties, including two 90s and five 80s, he, like Ashok Mankad, was unlucky to have seen the three figure eluding him. He held 38 catches and claimed 2 wickets... Chauhan played 7 ODIs for India, scoring 153 runs, 46 as highest with a strike rate of 50.83.. Chauhan's domestic record is impressive, with 11,143 r
Read more

AIR CMDE H. T. DANI

Image
🏏🏏 AIR CMDE H. T. DANI (24 May 1933 - 19 Dec 1999) Another gifted cricketer who unfortunately found himself in the list of the 'only debut Test' category, Hemchandra Tukaram "Bal" Dani originally from Solapur, shifted base to Nashik, Maharashtra... He played his only Test at the age of 19 in November 1952 against Pakistan, at the Brabourne Stadium, Bombay, which India won by 10 wickets... Opening the bowling with 41 year old Lala Amarnath, Dani held a great catch (A. H. Kardar) and got a wicket (Nazar Mohammad) in the total of 10 overs that he got to bowl in the entire match. He didn't have to bat at all. Evidently, he did not fail in the Test, which meant that there was really no reason to drop him, or to not pick him again for that matter. He toured Pakistan in 1954/55 without playing a Test. The Indian cricket selection procedures having quite often defied logic, it was Test curtains for Dani... Dani played most of his first clas
Read more