Bapu Nadkarni

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Bapu Nadkarni
India (IND)
Bapu Nadkarni
Batting style Left-hand bat (LHB)
Bowling type Slow left arm orthodox
Tests First-class
Matches 41 191
Runs scored 1,414 8,880
Batting average 25.70 40.36
100s/50s 1/7 14/46
Top score 122* 283*
Balls bowled 9,165
Wickets 88 500
Bowling average 29.07 21.37
5 wickets in innings 4 19
10 wickets in match 1 1
Best bowling 6/43 6/17
Catches/stumpings 22 140

Test debut: 16 December 1955
Last Test: 12 March 1968
Source: [1]

Rameshchandra Gangaram 'Bapu' Nadkarni pronunciation (help·info) (born April 4, 1933, Nasik, Maharashtra) was an Indian cricketer. He is mainly known for being a very economical bowler.

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[edit] Career

Nadkarni entered the cricket scene appearing in the Rohinton Baria Trophy for Poona university in 1950-51. He made his first class debut for Maharashtra the next year. Two years later he scored his first hundred, against Bombay at the Brabourne Stadium. Nadkarni score his 103* in just over three hours and added 103 runs for the last wicket Sadashiv Patil.

Nadkarni got a lucky break when he was picked to play against New Zealand in the Test at Feroz Shah Kotla in 1955-56 when Vinoo Mankad rested himself. He scored 68* but bowled 57 overs in the match without taking a wicket. When Mankad returned, Nadkarni found himself out of the team. Nadkarni became the captain of Maharashtra the same year.

Nadkarni was famous for bowling an unerring line to batsmen which made it nearly impossible to score. It is often told that he used to put a coin on the pitch when he practiced in the nets, and would practice hitting the coin with every delivery. He may have not taken many wickets in his career, but few can dispute his ability to dry up runs, with a career economy rate of less than 2.00 runs per over.

Nadkarni is perhaps best known for his bowling in the Madras Test against England in 1963-64. His figures for the third day of the match, bowling mostly against Brian Bolus and Ken Barrington, read 29 overs, 26 maidens, and no wickets for three runs. He finished with figures of 32-27-5-0 and bowled a record 21 consecutive maiden overs (131 dot balls in a row) in a 114 minute bowling spell. In the final Test of that series, Nadkarni hit 52* and 122*. It remained his only hundred in Test cricket.

Nadkarni took 5/31 and 6/91 against Australia at Madras in 1964-65 but with the emergence of Bishen Bedi as a left arm spinner, his chances became scarce. He was dropped from the tour of England in 1967 but in New Zealand that winter he bowled India to a win at Wellington with career best figures of 6/43. On return from this trip, he announced his retirement from first class cricket.

Nadkarni represented Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy from 1951-52 to 1959-60 and Bombay thereafter till 1967-68. He scored 201* and took 6/17 and 3/38 against Saurashtra in 1957-58 and 167 and seven wickets in the match against Gujarat in 1958-59. His highest score was the six hour innings of 283* against Delhi in the 1960-61 semifinal.

[edit] Trivia

Nadkarni was nicknamed Bapu after Mahatma Gandhi for the curious reason that he used to wear old fashioned langotis (loincloths) instead of modern underwear.[2]

[edit] Notes

  • Nadkarni bowled 21 maiden overs or 131 scoreless balls in succession. The record for most consecutive balls without conceding a run is held by Hugh Tayfield of South Africa who bowled 137 dot balls or 16 eight-ball overs across two innings against England at Durban in 1956-57. [3]. In first class cricket, Nadkarni comes third after Tayfield and Manish Majithia of Madhya Pradesh who bowled 136 dot balls in a row against Railways in 1999-00. [4] [5]
  • The records for maidens in succession with different balls-per-over are : [6]
4 ball overs : 23 - Alfred Shaw, North v South, Nottingham, 1876 [7]
5 ball overs : 10 - Ernie Robson, Somerset v Sussex, Hove, 1897 [8]
6 ball overs : 21 - Bapu Nadkarni, India v England, Madras, 1963-64
8 ball overs : 14 - Hugh Tayfield, South Africa v England, Durban, 1956-57


[edit] References

[edit] External links