Keki Khurshedji Tarapore (17 December 1910 – 15 June 1986) 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 each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played in one

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in 1948, and a cricket administrator. Tarapore studied at Harda New High School and Elphinstone College, Bombay and captained both. He completed a degree in B.A. Started his first class career in 1937 for Parsees and

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

. A left arm spinner, he was noted for his accuracy. He was reputed to be able to keep even

C. K. Nayudu Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as CK, was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test cricket, Test matches. He played first-class cricket regularly until 1958, and returned for one ...

quiet. Tarapore played as the understudy to

Vinoo Mankad Mulvantrai Himmatlal "Vinoo" Mankad (; 12 April 1917 – 21 August 1978) was an Indian cricketer who appeared in 44 Test matches for India between 1946 and 1959. He was best known for his world record setting opening partnership of 413 runs wi ...

, the first of the three or four such left arm spinners, against

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in 1948–49. His short international career was thus described by

Sujit Mukherjee Sujit Mukherjee (21 August 1930 – 14 January 2003) was an Indian writer, translator, literary critic, publisher, teacher and cricketer. Career Sujit Mukherjee was born in the village of Ariadaha, south of Calcutta, and educated at St. Xavier's ...

: :''The earliest experiment – a hapless guinea-pig – was greyed Keki Tarapore who was thrust into whirling West Indian blades in the

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, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Test of 1948. Only three wickets fell to Indian bowlers on each of the first two days and Tarapore was conspicuously innocent of them all; so the mammoth crowd diverted itself by tormenting the poor man who at thirty eight (his first class career dated back to the (first) Pentangular), was not the most agile man in the field.'' While fielding at deep extra cover on the second day in this match, Tarapore injured his fingers while trying to stop a four hit by Robert Christiani off

. He had to leave the field, and when he came back, the crowd barracked him every time he touched the ball. Four months after his only Test, Tarapore played his last first class match - the Ranji final between

and

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

- where he bowled 99 overs. Tarapore later went into cricket administration. He managed the Indian teams to England in 1967 and West Indies in 1970–71. He served as the secretary of

Cricket Club of India Cricket Club of India (CCI) is a cricket club in India. It is 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 prestigiou ...

from 1954 to 1982.

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

elected him as an honorary member in 1974.

Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by '' Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Cen ...

credited Tarapore with inspiring him with a remark when he was a teenager attending an under-19 coaching camp. When Kapil complained that the two

chapati Chapati (alternatively spelled chapatti, chappati, chapathi, or chappathi; pronounced as IAST: ), also known as ''roti'', ''rotli'', ''safati'', ''shabaati'', ''phulka'', (in East Africa) ''chapo'', (in Marathi) ''poli'', and (in the Maldives) ...

s given to him for lunch was insufficient as he was a fast bowler, Tarapore laughed at him and said that there were no fast bowlers in India. After he became a successful Test cricketer, Kapil sought Tarapore out at a function for giving him "a goal in life by almost challenging me to bowl fast". Tarapore died in the Ruby Nursing Home in Pune after being knocked down by a

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typ ...

.''Obituaries'', Indian Cricket 1986, pp 686-687Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Who's who of Test cricketers (1986)

Notes

*There are two Keki Tarapores in Indian cricket. The other Tarapore (1922–2001) was better known as a coach. He was based in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

and mentored many

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

juniors some of whom went on to play for India.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarapore, Keki 1910 births 1986 deaths India Test cricketers Indian cricketers Parsees cricketers Mumbai cricketers West Zone cricketers The Rest cricketers Parsi people from Mumbai Cricketers from Mumbai