The Retrievers were a first-class cricket team of British India that took part in the

Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament The Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament is an Indian cricket competition that has been held in Hyderabad (and sometimes nearby Secunderabad) since 1930-31. From 1930-31 to 1937-38, and from 1962-63 to 1973-74, it had first-class status. 1930-31 t ...

in 1934-35, playing two matches. After the

Maharajkumar of Vizianagram Lt. Col. Pusapati Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju (28 December 1905 – 2 December 1965), better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or ''Vizzy'', was an Indian cricketer, cricket administrator and politician. Childhood Vizzy was the ...

's team the Freelooters won the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament in 1931-32 and 1932-33, his cricket-promoting rival the Maharaja of Patiala established his own team, the Retrievers, for the next tournament in 1934-35. Captained by the Maharaja's son the Yuvraj of Patiala and consisting of 10 Indian Test players along with the Australian leg-spinner

Frank Warne Frank Belmont Warne (3 October 1906 – 29 May 1994) was an Australian first-class cricketer who played for teams on four continents during a 95-game career that stretched from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s. Early life Warne was born in ...

, the Retrievers dominated their semi-final against Hyderabad Cricket Association XI, and met the Freelooters in the final. Thanks to a century by

Lala Amarnath Lala Amarnath Bharadwaj (11 September 1911 - 5 August 2000) was an Indian cricketer. He scored a century on test debut and became the first player to score a century for the India national cricket team in Test cricket. He was independent India ...

and the bowling of

Mohammad Nissar Shaikh Mohammad Nissar (; 1 August 1910 – 11 March 1963) was a cricketer, who played as a fast bowler for the pre-independence Indian cricket team and domestic teams in India and Pakistan. He was born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, and is considered ...

(eight wickets) and C. K. Nayudu (seven wickets), they won by three wickets. Neither Retrievers nor Freelooters played again.

References

External links

Matches played by Retrievers at CricketArchive
Indian first-class cricket teams Former senior cricket clubs of India {{India-cricket-team-stub