| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting style | Right-hand bat (RHB) | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm slow medium | |||
| International information | ||||
| National side | Indian | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Competition | Tests | First-class | ||
| Matches | 7 | 207 | ||
| Runs scored | 350 | 11,825 | ||
| Batting average | 25.00 | 35.94 | ||
| 100s/50s | 0/2 | 26/58 | ||
| Top score | 81 | 200 | ||
| Balls bowled | 858 | 25,798 | ||
| Wickets | 9 | 411 | ||
| Bowling average | 42.88 | 29.28 | ||
| 5 wickets in innings | - | 12 | ||
| 10 wickets in match | - | 2 | ||
| Best bowling | 3/40 | 7/44 | ||
| Catches/stumpings | 4 | 170/1 | ||
| Source: [1], | ||||
Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (Telugu: కట్టారి కనకయ్య నాయుడు) (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as 'CK', was an Indian cricketer who served as India's first Test captain. He was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and died in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. CK played first-class cricket regularly till 1958, and returned for one last time in 1963 at the age of 68. In 1923, the ruler of Holkar invited him to Indore and made him a Captain (land and air) in his army, conferring on him the honour of a Colonel in Holkar's Army.
Arthur Gilligan led the first MCC tour to India in the 1926-27 season. For the Hindus at Bombay Gymkhana, Nayudu hit 153 in 116 minutes with 11 sixes. One of the sixes, off Bob Wyatt, landed on the roof of the Gymkhana. The MCC presented him with a silver bat in recognition of that heroic innings.
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India made its debut at Lord's under Col. C K Nayudu. In its first Test tour of England with the Maharaja of Porbandar as captain and Ghanshyamsinhji of Limbdi as vice-captain. Two weeks before the trip, Porbandar dropped out on reasons of health and Limbdi took over. But Limbdi suffered a back injury that ruled him out of the Test and just before the start of India's inaugural Test, Nayudu was appointed captain of the Indian team.
Nayudu took part in all 26 of the first-class matches on the tour, scoring 1,618 runs at an average of 40.45 in the first-class matches and 1,842 overall, and taking 65 wickets. Wisden chose him as a Cricketer of the Year the next year. Nayudu hit 32 sixes, which was the most by anyone in the season. CK's best stint was playing at Edgbaston, where he hit a ball into the River Rhea, and thus, technically, into the next county.
Tall and debonair, often with a kerchief knotted jauntily round his neck, CK was popularly known for his sartorial style on field. CK's close companion, Syed Mushtaq Ali, also known for his fearless and dashing cricket, played with CK in several matches together. Mushtaq Ali fondly called CK 'a tiger on the field'.
In the 1933-34 season, Douglas Jardine visited India with a formidable, though not full strength, MCC team. For the Punjab Governor's XI, Nayudu scored a hundred. He was retained as the captain of the Test series. The first ever Test in India, held at the Bombay Gymkhana between December 15 and 18, was watched by over 100,000 spectators. India lost the series by two Tests to nil.
Nayudu grew up in Nagpur and played almost all his cricket for Central India. He was drafted in the school team at the age of seven, and showed promise for a bright future. He made his first class debut in 1916 in the Bombay Triangular. For the Hindus against the Europeans, he came in to bat at No.9 with his team tottering at 79 for 7. He blocked his fin six different decades. He made his last appearance in the Ranji Trophy in 1956-57, aged 62, scoring 52 in his last innings for Uttar Pradesh. Earlier in the season he had made 84 against Rajasthan, striking Vinoo Mankad for two sixes. His final outing was in a charity match in 1963-64, when he played for the Maharashtra Governor's XI against the Maharashtra Chief Minister's XI.[1]
Nayadu was the first cricketer to be honoured with the Padma Bhushan.
Nayudu is one of the few cricketers to have played the first class game. He was known as being a outstanding, solid batsman, and for an ability as a hard-hitter.
Padma Bhushan CK Nayudu is today known as the 'Father of the Indian Cricket'. The CK Nayudu Award is the highest-revered award for captaincy and lifetime achievement in Indian Cricket.
One of Nayudu's daughters, Chandra, wrote a book on her father, C. K. Nayudu: A Daughter Remembers.
| Preceded by Inaugural |
Indian National Test Cricket Captain 1932-1933/4 |
Succeeded by Maharajkumar of Vizianagram |