Raj Singh Dungarpur (19 December 1935 – 12 September 2009) was a president of

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

. 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 16 years and was in and out of the Board of Control for more than 20 years. He was a selector of the national team for two terms. He also managed the Indian cricket team four times on overseas tours. As the chairman of the selection committee, Dungarpur introduced

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

to international cricket by selecting him for India's 1989 tour of Pakistan when he was just 16 years old. He is also credited for establishing the National Cricket Academy in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Biography

Maharaj Raj Singh was born in the erstwhile princely state of Dungarpur in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

(then called

Rajputana Rājputana (), meaning Land of the Rajputs, was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the entire present-day States of India, Indian state of Rajasthan, parts of the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and adjo ...

) on 19 December 1935. He was the youngest son of Maharawal Lakshman Singhji, the ruler of Dungarpur. He has two brothers, namely, Jaisinghji and Mahipalsinghji, and three sisters, one of whom is the Maharani of Bikaner. He studied at Daly College,

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

. He was the long-term romantic partner of

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

, the legendary singer. He played for the

Rajasthan cricket team The Rajasthan cricket team is a cricket team which represents the Indian state of Rajasthan. The team won the Ranji Trophy in the 2010–11 and 2011-12 seasons, having finished runners-up eight times between 1960–61 and 1973-74. It is curr ...

and Central Zone cricket team, appearing in 86 first class cricket matches from 1955 to 1971, and taking 206 wickets as a medium-pace bowler. In Rajasthan's victory over

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

in 1967-68 he took his best figures of 7 for 88 and 5 for 55. He was appointed as the Manager of the Indian cricket team on a number of tours. He was also the president of

Cricket Club of India Cricket Club of India (CCI) is a cricket club located on Dinsha Wacha Road, in Churchgate of Mumbai, India. It was conceived as India's counterpart to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It is considered one of the most prestigious clubs in the na ...

, Mumbai for 13 years. He served as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for two terms. His last cricketing stint was as the manager of the Indian team to Pakistan. He died on 12 September 2009, after a prolonged battle with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, in Mumbai, aged 73. His funeral was held at Dungarpur.

References

External links

*
Raj Singh at CricketArchive

Raj Singh Dungarpur website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dungarpur, Raj Singh 1935 births 2009 deaths Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen Rajasthan cricketers Rajasthani people Central Zone cricketers Indian cricket administrators Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in India India national cricket team selectors People from Dungarpur Madhya Bharat cricketers Indian cricket coaches Presidents of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Rajasthan cricket captains Daly College alumni