They also played Tests for India

Tags: Cricwaves Columns, Coimbatarao Gopinath, Bharath Reddy, Vasant Baburao Ranjane, Sudhir Sakharam Naik

Published on: Nov 13, 2012

Researching through the history of India-England Tests, the writer came across a number of cricketers, who played briefly for India, but, unlike some big super stars, are hardly recognisable names in Indian cricket. Here’s our tribute to some lost men of Indian cricket.

Researching through the history of India-England Tests, the writer came across a number of cricketers, who played briefly for India, but, unlike some big super stars, are hardly recognisable names in Indian cricket. Here’s our tribute to some lost men of Indian cricket.

Coimbatarao GopinathCoimbatarao Gopinath: A right-handed batsman, Gopinath was a stylish player, who could play most strokes in the book. At his peak, he was among the most consistent batsmen in first-class cricket. Somehow, in spite of a good start to his Test career, his international career couldn’t quite kick off. On his Test debut against England at Mumbai in December 1951, he made 50 not out and 42. The first innings came when the team was under immense pressure having lost too many wickets with not many runs on the board. Unfortunately, that half-century remained his highest Test score. He had miserable tour of England in 1952, and that was a major setback to his career. Gopinath was recalled in 1960, but that was to be his last year in international cricket. The talented cricketer ended with eight Tests, scoring 242 runs at a disappointing average of 22.

Bharath Reddy: With Syed Kirmani in the side as the number one wicket-keeper, Reddy was forever his understudy. However, when Kirmani was dropped for the 1979 tour of England, Reddy eventually got his chance to keep wickets for India. Having made his debut at Birmingham in the opening Test of the series, Reddy went on to play all the four Tests. He did a more than decent job, holding nine catches and effective two stumpings. With the bat, Reddy scored 38 runs with a highest of 21. Although he played his last ODI for India in 1981,Reddy never represented India in Tests after England.

Vasant Ranjane: A highly successful first class player, Ranjane was a much better medium pace bowlerthan his figures suggest. He played only seven Tests, making his debut against West Indies against Kanpur in 1958 and played his last Test against Australia at Chennai in 1964. Ranjane was unlucky in the sense that he played most of his games on dead tracks at home, where there was little for pace bowlers. Yet, he had his moments to remember. Against England at Bombay in 1961-62, he picked up four wickets while on the tour of West Indies, he picked up his best haul of 4 for 72 at Kingston. Crucially, the wickets were those of Hunte, Kanhai, Sobers and Worrell. Ranjane, who passed away last year, picked up 19 wickets during his Test career averaging 34.15.

Sudhir Naik: The Mumbai batsman played only three Tests for India although he had the capability to do a lot more. He was picked as an opener for the 1974 tour of England, and made his debut in the final Test at Birmingham. Naik scored only four in the first innings, but came up with a fighting 77 in a losing cause in the second innings. That was to be his highest Test score as he was discarded following the Kolkata Test against West Indies in 1974-75. Naik finished his Test career with a total of 141 runs, and an ungainly Test average of 23.50.

--By A Cricket Analyst

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