Devraj Devendraraj Govindraj (born 2 January 1947) is a former

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

who 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

from 1964–65 to 1974–75. He toured the

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 1970–71 and

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 1971, but did not play

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

. He is the nephew of

C. K. Nayudu Colonel Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967) was an Indian cricketer and cricket administrator who served as the first captain of the Indian national cricket team. He is widely regarded as one of India's greatest ...

, India's first test captain.

Early career

Govindraj began his career with

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

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 ...

in 1964–65, opening the bowling and batting in the

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

. In 1966–67 his 59 batting at number nine helped

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

win the

Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament The Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament is an Indian cricket competition that has been held in Hyderabad (and sometimes nearby Secunderabad) since the 1930–31 season. From 1930–31 to 1937–38, and from 1962–63 to 1973–74, it had first-cla ...

for the first time. He attended a training camp that was held to help select the Indian team to tour

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1967–68, but Umesh Kulkarni and

Ramakant Desai Ramakant Bhikaji Desai (20 June 1939 in Bombay – 27 April 1998 in Mumbai) was an Indian cricketer who represented India in Test cricket as a fast bowler from 1959 to 1968. Ramakant Desai was an Indian fast bowler, who stood 5 feet 4 inches ta ...

were selected ahead of him. In domestic cricket in India in 1967–68 he took 23 wickets at 26.95, without taking more than three wickets in an innings. He again helped State Bank of India win the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament, making his career top score of 72 at number eight after State Bank of India had been 123 for 6 in the first innings of the final. He played for an Indian XI against the touring International XI in February 1968, taking the wickets of

Khalid Ibadulla Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla (20 December 1935 – 12 July 2024) was a Pakistani-New Zealander cricketer, cricket coach and umpire who later worked as a cricket commentator for TVNZ. He represented Pakistan four times at Test match level between 1 ...

(twice) and

Ken Suttle Kenneth George Suttle (25 August 1928 – 25 March 2005) was an English cricketer. Cricket career Ken Suttle was primarily a left-handed batsman but was also a useful slow left-arm bowler. His first-class career with Sussex lasted from 1949 ...

. He began the 1968–69 season with a short tour of

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

with State Bank of India. In the match against Ceylon Board President's Under-27s XI he took the best innings figures (6 for 38 in the second innings) and match figures (11 for 70) of his career in an innings victory. Two months later he took his best figures in the Ranji Trophy with 5 for 21 and 5 for 75 in an innings victory for Hyderabad over

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...

Playing for India

After taking 24 wickets in the 1970–71 Indian season at an average of 29.00, including 5 for 114 for South Zone against East Zone in 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 ...

, Govindraj was selected for the tours of the West Indies and England. Although he was the only fast bowler in the team he did not play any of the Tests, the selectors preferring to open with the medium-paced all-rounders

Eknath Solkar Eknath Dhondu Solkar (18 March 1948 – 26 June 2005) was an Indian all-round cricketer who played 27 Test matches and seven One Day Internationals for his country. He was born in Bombay, and died of heart attack in the same city at the age ...

and

Syed Abid Ali Syed Abid Ali (9 September 1941 – 12 March 2025) was an all-rounder Indian cricketer who was a lower-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler. He also played an important role in Indian cricket in the 1960s and '70s. Early life Abid Ali att ...

and rely on three specialist spinners to take most of the wickets. He played five first-class matches in the West Indies and bowled only 91.5 overs, taking 10 wickets at 37.60. In England he played 16 matches, but took only 11 wickets at 61.27. He played for an Indian XI against Rest of India in a match in aid of the Defence Fund in 1971–72, but took no wickets. He played on for a few more seasons before dropping out of first-class cricket at the age of 27.

After cricket

Govindraj worked for the

during his cricket career. Later he drove buses in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and more recently he has been a cricket coach.Interview with Devraj Govindraj
Retrieved 13 March 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Govindraj, Devraj 1947 births Living people Indian cricketers Hyderabad cricketers South Zone cricketers State Bank of India cricketers Cricketers from Hyderabad, India