Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji
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 England (ENG) |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |
| Bowling type | Legbreak | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 12 | 205 |
| Runs scored | 995 | 15485 |
| Batting average | 58.52 | 49.95 |
| 100s/50s | 3/5 | 50/63 |
| Top score | 173 | 333 |
| Balls bowled | 6 | 1835 |
| Wickets | - | 28 |
| Bowling average | - | 48.03 |
| 5 wickets in innings | - | - |
| 10 wickets in match | - | - |
| Best bowling | - | 4/49 |
| Catches/stumpings | 10/- | 256/- |
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Test debut: 15 June 1929 |
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Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji Jadeja (1905-59) was a cricketer who played for England.
He was born on June 13, 1905 in Kathiawar (present day Gujarat state), one of the Princely States, in India. While he was still playing school cricket, the future President of the MCC, HS Altham, wrote of him in Wisden: "In natural gifts of eye, wrist and footwork he is certainly blest far above the ordinary measure... there is no doubt about the judgment and certainty with which he takes toll of straight balls of anything but the most immaculate length. His late cutting is quite beautiful and there is a certain ease and maturity about all his batting methods that stamps him as of a different class from the ordinary school batsman." Mr Altham was proved correct in his assesment of the young man's talent as he went on to achieve great success as a batsman for Cambridge University, Sussex and eventually England in a career sadly cut short by recurrent illness. His Test average of 58.5 ranks him among the best batsmen to have played Test cricket.
Duleepsinhji will always be remembered as one of the outstanding personalities during his period in first-class Cricket, as per Wisden Almanack 1960
Based on his experience as High Commissioner for India in Australia and New Zealand he was made Chairman of the Public Service Commission in the State of Saurashtra after his return to India.
As Maharaja of Navanagar (Bhavnagar) he took lot of interest in the well being of his subjects and the State governing. He mixed with state subjects freely.
The photo shows one of his routine visits to a village near Junagadh in Saurashtra State to see the condition of living of the local people. He is being given the traditional welcome by the villagers by drum beating, pipe music etc.
He also visited the first and the only public utility Thermal Power Station in that State, at that time located at Shapur, near a village Vanthly (near Junagadh). As this power station was using crushed coal as fuel for boilers and chlorination for the cooling water system, which normally polluted the local atmosphere, he wanted to see personally the working conditions and the amenities provided for the villagers housing and the recreation facilities.
He died on December 5, 1959 in Bombay - now Mumbai).
The Duleep Trophy is named in his honour.
His uncle Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, after whom the Ranji Trophy is named, also played cricket for England.
