Rajkumar Shri Chatrapalsinhji, later known as R.K. Chatrapalsinh Jadeja (4 November 1936 – 29 April 2009), a member of the Jamnagar royal family, 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 ...

in India from 1957 to 1971.

Education and cricket career

Chatrapalsinhji was educated at

Rajkumar College, Rajkot The Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Rajkot, Gujarat is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 28.656-acre (1,15,965 m²) campus in Rajkot. The foundation stone of Rajkumar College was laid in 1868. The institution was designed by ...

, and

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, where he opened the batting for the university team in the

Rohinton Baria Trophy The All-India Inter-University Cricket Championship held for the Rohinton Baria Gold Trophy (or simply, Rohinton Baria Trophy) is India's premier inter-university cricket tournament. It has been contested annually since the 1935/36 season. Histo ...

from 1955-56 to 1957-58. He made his first-class debut for

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 ...

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 1957-58. In his second match he scored 69 in the second innings, taking part in an opening partnership of 114 when Delhi successfully chased 136 for victory. He returned to play for his home team

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

in 1958-59, scoring 246 runs in four matches at an average of 30.75. He made his highest score of 98 against

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 ...

in 1962-63, a drawn match in which two other members of the Jamnagar royal family,

Indrajitsinhji Kumar Shri Indrajitsinhji Madhavsinhji () (15 June 1937 – 12 March 2011) was an Indian cricketer who played in four Test matches from 1964 to 1969 as a wicket-keeper-batsman. Early life Indrajitsinhji was born in Jamnagar, Gujarat. He was ...

and

Shatrusalyasinhji Shatrusalyasinhji Jadeja (born 20 February 1939) is a former first-class cricketer. He held the title of Maharaja of Nawanagar between 1966 and 1971. Family and education His father, H H Jam Saheb Sri Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, played one f ...

, were also successful for Saurashtra. From 1967-68 to 1969-70 he played for

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. In 1968-69 he was chosen to represent

East Zone The East Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents eastern India in the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. It is a composite team of six first-class Indian teams from eastern India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Assam, Bihar, ...

in his only appearance 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 ...

. In a low-scoring match he was East Zone's top scorer, with 42 and 10, in a loss to South Zone. He played one final match, for Gujarat, in 1971-72.

Career with Air India

Chatrapalsinhji's work as an officer with

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

took him around India and the Gulf States. He was the instigator of the 1989 Nehru Cup international cricket tournament.

Ramachandra Guha Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social, political, contemporary, environmental and cricket history. He is an important autho ...

, ''The States of Indian Cricket'', Permanent Black, Bangalore, 2005, p. 162.

References

External links

* {{ESPNcricinfo, id=27886 1936 births 2009 deaths Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen People from Jamnagar Cricketers from Gujarat Delhi cricketers Saurashtra cricketers Bihar cricketers Gujarat cricketers East Zone cricketers Delhi University alumni