Amarjit Kaypee (born 2 October 1960) is an Indian former cricketer. He was primarily a right-handed batsman, and he held the record for the most runs scored in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

, India's premier domestic

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

competition for a number of years before

Amol Muzumdar Amol Anil Muzumdar (born 11 November 1974) is an Indian cricket coach and former cricketer who previously played for the cricket teams of Mumbai and Assam. He was primarily a right-handed batsman. He held the record for the most runs scored in th ...

took the record in 2009. However, despite his success, he was never selected for the Indian national team, an unfortunate feat he shares with the man who broke his record.

Early life

Kaypee was born in a family from Punjab to his father Darshan Singh Kaypee, 5 times MLA, a renowned and a very senior politician at the time and his wife Karam Kaur in Jalandhar on 2 October 1960. One of 7 siblings Kaypee was a student at D.A.V College Jalandhar where he played much of his early college cricket.

Domestic career and 1990–91 Ranji Trophy Champions

Kaypee began his first-class career with

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

in the 1980–81 season making his debut against

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. Having played a few reasonably good seasons for

, he moved to

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

in 1986–87. It was here where Kaypee played for the rest of his career and where he found much success. Kaypee scored 210 not out in his very first season playing for Haryana which remained his highest career score. Kaypee's most successful season was in 1990–91 when he scored 940 runs in the

, helping

to their first and, to date, only

title.

rode into the finals on the back of the bowling performance of

Chetan Sharma Chetan Sharma (born 3 January 1966) is an Indian former cricket player who played Tests and ODIs as a fast bowler for Indian cricket team. Sharma was the first man to take a hat-trick in a Cricket World Cup, achieving this feat in the 1987 ...

and the batting performance of Kaypee, where he scored back-to-back 3 centuries in 3 consecutive innings scoring 127 against services, then mammoth scores of 152 and 173 in the quarter finals against UP, which at the time was a record for Kaypee being the only batsman in the Ranji Trophy history to score 150 plus runs in both innings of the same match. This followed by another brilliant knock of 78 and 102 in the semi-finals against Bengal ensuring Haryana gained a spot and eventually becoming the winners in the 1990-91 Ranji Trophy finals. Kaypee was the top run-scorer in the competition that year, scoring 5 centuries that season and he was named as an '' Indian Cricket'' Cricketer of the Year. The following season he had another prolific Ranji Trophy, scoring 812 runs with 3 centuries including a double ton. He continued to perform consistently well for

for many seasons, and even captained the team in 31 matches. However, he was only twice selected in the North Zone team for the

Duleep Trophy The Duleep Trophy, is a domestic First Class Cricket competition played in India. Named after former cricketer Duleepsinhji, the competition has largely been contested by teams representing various geographical zones of India since the first ed ...

, playing two matches each in the 1991–92 and 1992–93 seasons. As a result, he tended to be overlooked by the national team selectors, and so never made an appearance for the national side.

Post Retirement

In October 2000, Kaypee retired from cricket. He finished his career with a record aggregate of 7623 runs in the

including 27 centuries, and a record title of being the leading run scorer in Ranji Trophy, a record he carried for a total of 10 years. Post retirement Kaypee was appointed as the head coach for the Haryana Ranji Trophy team for the 2008–09 season. Kaypee was also a match referee for the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

from 2007–08 to 2013–14 seasons. Kaypee once again had been given the charge as the head coach for the Haryana senior men's team for the 2023–24 season, under his guidance and mentorship the team had been performing consistently well in the T20 and List A tournament. In April 2006 Kaypee was part of the Indian veterans team that visited

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

to play a limited-overs 4 match series against a Pakistan Veteran's XI, organised by the Pakistan Seniors Cricket Board. The Indian side was led by former Indian captain

Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former cricketer who also served as the Indian national cricket team's captain. He was a right-handed middle order batter and an occasional medium fast bowler. He playe ...

Overseas Player

In the 1980s and 1990s Kaypee had a spell with Smethwick and Streetly Cricket Club, as their overseas player playing in England. Kaypee played his last season during the 1999 English summer before taking retirement from his Domestic Career the following year in 2000.

References

External links

*
Player Profile: Amarjit Kaypee
from CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaypee, Amarjit 1960 births Living people Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen Haryana cricketers Punjab, India cricketers North Zone cricketers Cricketers from Jalandhar