Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji (13 June 1905 – 5 December 1959), often known as Duleep or K. S. Duleepsinhji, was an Indian international

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 who represented the

English cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

. He was a right handed batsman and an occasional

leg break 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 from ...

bowler. Playing in the era before the Indian Independence and the establishment of the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

, 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 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and later represented the England team. Descended from the

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of Nawanagar, Duleepsinhji was born on the

Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...

peninsula in present-day

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 ...

. He was educated at the

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of 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 ...

, before moving to England where he attended

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He represented

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

in the English county championship, whom he captained later. He was one of the most prolific scorers in first class cricket with more than 15,000 runs including 50 centuries at an average just below 50. He was a slip fielder and took 256 catches. Though he had a short

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

career, he scored 995 runs at an average of 58.52 and has one of the highest averages in the history of test cricket. Post his cricketing career, Duleepsinhji served as the High Commissioner of India in

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 ...

and later as the chairman of the Public Service Commission in Saurashtra. The Duleep Trophy, one of the premier first class cricket competitions in India is named after him.

Early and personal life

Duleepsinhji was born on 13 June 1905 in Nawanagar,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(present day

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 ...

). He was from the

of Nawanagar state and his siblings included Himmatsinhji, the first

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and Digvijaysinhji, who became the ruler of Nawanagar.

Ranjitsinhji Colonel Kumar Sri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was an Indian cricketer who later became ruler of his native Indian princely state of Nawanagar State, Nawan ...

, after whom the Indian premier

competition

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 ...

is named, was his uncle. He was educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, before moving to England where he attended

and

Cricket career

Early years

Duleepsinhji represented Cheltenham Cricket Club from 1921 to 1923 and captained the side later. He had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 52.36 with his highest score being 162 and took 50 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 13.66 runs with his

s. In 1925, he moved to study in

and represented the

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

till 1928. In 1927, he scored his highest score of 254 against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

which was the highest for Cambridge.

County career

Duleepsinhji made his first class debut for

in 1926. He did not play the

1927 English cricket season 1927 was the 34th season of County Championship cricket in England. Lancashire retained the title. A New Zealand team toured but there were no Test matches. Douglas Jardine and Harold Larwood topped the batting and bowling averages respectively. ...

due to suffering from a

pulmonary disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bron ...

and recuperated in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He returned to play for Sussex in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and scored more than 2500 runs in each of the next three seasons. In the

1930 English cricket season 1930 was the 37th season of County Championship cricket in England and will always be remembered for the remarkable batting performances of Australia's Don Bradman. Australia won the Test series 2–1. Lancashire regained the championship to com ...

, he made his top score of 333 runs on a single day against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

which is the highest score by a Sussex batter till date. He scored centuries in each of the two innings three times in his career. In

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, he was appointed the captain of Sussex and had his most prolific year scoring 12 centuries with four of them in successive innings. He retired from first class cricket in 1932 due to illness. He was one of the most prolific scorers in first class cricket with more than 15,485 runs including 50 centuries at an average of 49.95 with 9,178 runs including 35 centuries at an average of 51.56 for Sussex. He headed the batting average charts in the

County championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

in every season from 1926 to 1932. He was a prolific slip fielder and took 256 catches.

Test career

He made his

debut for

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 ...

against the visiting

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n team in June 1929. His only tour abroad was with the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

team in Australia and

in 1929-30, when he was the top scorer. In June 1930, he made his highest score of 173 in his first match against the

n team at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. Harold Gilligan, the captain rated him the best player of slow bowling on a wet pitch that he ever saw. Duleep had to withdraw from the MCC team for the bodyline tour of Australia in 1932. He made 12 appearances in tests and scored 995 runs at an average of 58.52 and has one of the highest averages in the history of test cricket.

Public service

Following his playing career, he served as the High Commissioner of India in

and

and later as the chairman of the Public Service Commission of Saurashtra after his return to India.

Death

Duleepsinhji died on 5 December 1959, following a heart attack, in

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 ...

Awards and honors

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

Cricketer of the Year (1930)

Legacy

The Duleep Trophy, one of the premier first class cricket competitions in India is named after him.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duleepsinhji, Kumar Shri England Test cricketers Indian cricketers Sussex cricketers Sussex cricket captains Cambridge University cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Hindus cricketers North v South cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year 1905 births 1959 deaths People educated at Cheltenham College Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Cricketers from Gujarat Indian royalty Gujarati sportspeople Maharajas of Nawanagar Indian civil servants High commissioners of India to Australia High commissioners of India to New Zealand British Asian cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Lord Hawke's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers