M. R. REGE


🏏🏏
M. R. REGE
(18 Mar 1924 – 16 Dec 2013)

The mainstay of Maharashtra's batting then, Panvel born Madhusudan Ramchandra Rege was another 'only debut Test' player, unfortunate in the sense that he found himself amidst almost seven batting greats of his times, including the three Vijays, a Polly and a Pankaj...

Rege made his first class debut aged 19 against Nawanagar as a low order batsman, but acquired the opener's role from the second game. His unbeaten 200 for Indian Universities against Lindsay Hasset's Australian Services and his maiden first class hundred (101) against Europeans in the Pentangular shot Rege into prominence... 

His debut and only Test was, unfortunately, something Rege himself would have probably admitted, a forgettable one. It was against John Goddard's West Indies, January 1949 at Madras. Opening the batting, he could manage just 15 and 0 as India went down by an innings and 193 runs, and Rege never played for India again... 

In a career spanning over a decade (1944/45 - 1954/55) Rege played just 39 first class matches. He scored 2,348 runs @37.26 with 6 hundreds and 12 fifties with a highest of 164. With his off-breaks he picked up 33 wickets @42.96 a piece, though reportedly he has the ignominy of being the first Indian bowler to have been called for chucking... 

A graduate in Arts (BA) and Teaching (BT), Rege passed away on December 16, 2013, just a few months short of his 90th birthday...

🙏🙏🌹💐    🇮🇳

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