Dattajirao Krishnarao Gaekwad (27 October 1928 – 13 February 2024), known as Datta Gaekwad, was an Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He appeared in 11 Test matches, toured

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1952 and 1959 and

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in 1952–53. He captained the Indian team on the 1959 tour. As a batsman Gaekwad "possessed a sure defence and delightfully crisp shots especially through the covers". He was also an occasional

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins fr ...

bowler. Until his death, he was India's oldest living Test cricketer.

Biography

Gaekwad played his early cricket for

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

and the Maharaja Sayaji University in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

. He made his Test debut in the first Test of 1952 tour of England, in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. He opened the innings for India despite never having done so before the tour. He was one among four victims dismissed for no score in the second innings of the Test. His West Indies tour in the next year was terminated during the second Test when he collided with

Vijay Hazare Vijay Samuel Hazare (11 March 1915 – 18 December 2004) was an Indian cricketer. He captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953. In India's 25th Test match, nearly 20 years after India achieved Test status, he led India to its first ...

while going for a catch and dislocated his shoulder. In 1957–58, he captained

to their first

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 ...

title in nine years, scoring a century in the final against

Services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

. He scored 218 against the defending champions

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

during the course of the season. He was recalled to the Indian team for the final Test against

in 1958–59. His 52 in the second innings was the only Test fifty of his career and went some way towards India earning a draw. India had had four captains in the series against West Indies, and with Hemu Adhikari, the captain in the Fifth Test, being unavailable, Gaekwad was appointed to lead the Indian team on the tour of England in 1959. Between his selection and the beginning of the tour, he contracted

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

, and was never fully fit during the tour. He still played in 23 of the 33 first-class matches and was one of the team's leading scorers, with 1174 runs at an average of 34.52. He played in four of the five Tests, but scored only 128 runs at an average of 16.00. India lost all five Tests, and Gaekwad appeared in only one more Test. '' Wisden's'' summary of the tour said that he appeared not to have "the verve and personality" for the task, and that a "more active approach", especially in field placing, might have been more successful. It added: "There were times when his cover fielding was brilliant, and his innings of 176 against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

made many wonder why he was not more successful." In the Ranji Trophy he scored 3,139 runs with 14 centuries and a highest of 249 against

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

in 1959–60.

Personal life and death

Gaekwad was the father of the Indian opener Anshuman Gaekwad. He was distantly related to the Baroda royal family and served as the Deputy comptroller to the

Baroda state Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

. On the death of Deepak Shodhan in May 2016 he became India's oldest living Test cricketer. He died in Baroda,

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

on 13 February 2024, at the age of 95.Former Indian cricket team captain Dattajirao Gaekwad passes away
Sportstar

References

Sources

* Rajan Bala, ''The Covers are Off''. Bala suggests that one of the reasons for the fiasco of the 1959 tour was the resentment of Bombay players towards those from Baroda.

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaekwad, Datta 1928 births 2024 deaths Baroda cricketers India Test cricket captains India Test cricketers Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen Indian Universities cricketers West Zone cricketers Cricketers from Vadodara