The Indian Universities cricket team played 16 three-day
first-class matches, all but one against teams touring India, between October 1949 and December 1975.
Matches
Of their 16 first-class matches, Indian Universities lost two (against the
New Zealanders
New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...
in 1955-56 and the
West Indians
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use ...
in 1958-59) and drew the other 14. Only a few of the drawn matches came close to achieving a result. Against the
Pakistanis in 1952-53, Indian Universities gained a first-innings lead of 248 after
Jayasinghrao Ghorpade
Jaysinghrao Mansinghrao Ghorpade (2 October 1930 – 29 March 1978) was an Indian cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at eac ...
took 6 for 19 to dismiss the Pakistanis for 92; but rain prevented play on the final day.
Against
Ceylon in 1964-65, Indian Universities needed 89 to win and finished at 78 for 3 after 20 overs.
The one first-class match by Indian Universities that did not take place in India was against Ceylon Board President's XI in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...
in 1970-71.
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...
top-scored in each innings with 30 and 76 not out, and the Ceylon team, needing 106 for victory, reached 93 for 6 in 18 overs.
The Universities team also played five non-first-class matches against university teams on the short tour of Ceylon.
A four-day match between Indian Universities and
England A in 1994-95 was ruled not first-class by the
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...
, as only one of the Universities team had first-class experience. England A won by 439 runs.
Ghorpade's 6 for 19 in 1952-53 were the best figures for Indian Universities.
[ Ambar Roy's 135 in the 1964-65 match was the highest individual score.][
]
Test players
Many Indian Universities players went on to play Test cricket. From the first side in 1949-50, for example, Nana Joshi
Padmanabh Govind "Nana" Joshi (7 October 1926 – 8 January 1987) was an Indian cricketer who kept wicket for India in 12 Test matches between 1951 and 1960.
Personal life
Joshi was born in Baroda, Gujarat, India in 1926. His father died whe ...
, Pankaj Roy
Pankaj Roy (; 31 May 1928 – 4 February 2001) was an Indian cricketer and former national cricket team captain. He was right-handed opening batsman, he is best known for establishing the world record opening partnership of 413 runs, together ...
, Polly Umrigar
Pahlan Ratanji "Polly" Umrigar (28 March 1926 – 7 November 2006) was an Indian cricketer. He played in Indian cricket team (1948- 1962) and played first-class cricket for Bombay and Gujarat. Umrigar played mainly as a middle-order batsman ...
, Gulabrai Ramchand
Gulabrai Sipahimalani "Ram" Ramchand (26 July 1927 – 8 September 2003) was an Indian cricketer, cricket coach and administrator who played for the national team in 33 Test matches between 1952 and 1960. In his only series as captain, he led ...
, Deepak Shodhan and Subhash Gupte played Tests for India.Ashok Gandotra
Ashok Gandotra (born 24 November 1948) is a former Indian cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1969.
Gandotra was born in Brazil where his father was posted in foreign services, while the family was from Delhi. He played domestically ...
, Mohinder Amarnath
Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (born 24 September 1950) is an Indian former cricketer,current cricket analyst and actor. He is the son of Lala Amarnath, (the first post-independence captain of India .) and Kailash Kumari. His brother Surinder Ama ...
and Budhi Kunderan) had already played Test cricket, while another four (Gavaskar, Kenia Jayantilal, Surinder Amarnath and Dilip Doshi
Dilip Rasiklal Doshi (born 22 December 1947) is a former Indian cricketer of Gujarati origin who played in 33 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals from 1979 to 1983.
Doshi is one of only four Test bowlers that played their first Test af ...
) would later do so.[
]
References
External links
First-class matches played by Indian Universities at CricketArchive
Indian first-class cricket teams
Former senior cricket clubs of India
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