Devraj Puri (12 March 1916 – 31 December 1971) 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 and commentator. He played

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 ...

for several teams including

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. He played one unofficial Test match for India against the Australians in 1935-36. After his playing career, he became a cricket commentator. In contemporary reports, his name often appears as Dev Raj Puri or D. R. Puri.

Biography

Devraj Puri was a bowler who was considered very fast in his early overs. He made his debut in

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 ...

for

Northern India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

in the first season of 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 ...

. In his second match, he returned figures 4-1-3-3 as

Southern Punjab South Punjab may refer to: *South Punjab (region), the southern part of the Punjab (region), region of Punjab in South Asia *South Punjab Province, a proposed province in Pakistan *Malwa (Punjab), the southern region of Indian Punjab See also

...

were bowled out for 22 runs; it would remain the lowest team score in the tournament for more than 70 years. He took 6 wickets for 101 runs in the final against

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 ...

but Northern Punjab lost by 208 runs. In the 1935–36 season, Puri captained Punjab University to a win in the interuniversity Rohinton Baria Trophy. Puri opened the bowling with

Mohammad Nissar Mohammad Nissar (; 1 August 1910 – 11 March 1963) was a cricketer, who played as a fast bowler for the pre-independence Indian cricket team and domestic teams in India and Pakistan. He was born into a Punjabi family in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, an ...

against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

in the third unofficial Test at Lahore in January 1936. A match report tells that Puri took a run-up of over 30 yards and "appeared to be faster than Nissar" but without the same control. He was not selected for the 1936 tour of England. According to his son

Narottam Puri Narottam Puri (born 1946) is an Indian sports journalist and broadcaster. Puri graduated from Maulana Azad Medical College New Delhi, and completed his master's degree in otorhinolaryngology (ENT), Delhi University. Presently, he is the Medic ...

, Devraj Puri was invited for the trials in Delhi but not allowed to bowl a single ball apparently because he had played a few matches for the

Maharaja of Patiala The Maharaja of Patiala was the title of the ruler of the princely state of Patiala State, Patiala, in Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India. The first ruler of Patiala was Baba Ala Singh (1691 – 1765), who held the title o ...

. Patiala was an adversary of the

Maharajkumar of Vizianagram Lt. Col. Pusapati Vijaya Ananda Gajapathi Raju (28 December 1905 – 2 December 1965), better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or ''Vizzy'', was an Indian cricketer, cricket administrator and politician. Childhood Vizzy was th ...

who was the captain of the touring side.

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

invited Puri to do the radio commentary for the Delhi Test of the 1948-49 series against West Indies on the recommendation of the

Nawab of Pataudi Pataudi State was a small princely state in India, established in 1804 by the East India Company rule in India. The state formed a part of the Delhi Territory in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. It was under the suzerainty of the Commiss ...

. He continued to be a commentator for twenty years. In the Bombay Test against Australia in November 1969, Puri criticised umpire

Sambhu Pan Sambhu Pan (3 January 1919 – 1987) was an Indian cricket umpire. He stood in nine Test matches between 1961 and 1969. See also * List of Test cricket umpires __NOTOC__ This is a list of umpire (cricket), cricket umpires who have offici ...

's decision to give S. Venkataraghavan out. Several spectators were carrying transistor radios and Puri's comments contributed in inflaming a crowd riot. A part of the

Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is an international cricket stadium in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It is the home ground of the Mumbai men's and Mumbai women's cricket team, women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 pe ...

was set on fire. The Devraj Puri Trophy that was given for the North Zone winners in the Ranji Trophy was named after him. His son Narottam became a cricket commentator on radio and television.Interview with Dr. Narottam Puri, Sportstar, 06 May, 2020
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puri, Devraj 1916 births 1971 deaths Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen Bengal cricketers Delhi cricketers Northern India cricketers United Provinces cricketers Cricketers from Lahore