C. K. Nayudu

C.K. Nayudu
Personal information
Full name Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu
Born 31 October 1895, Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh[1]
Died 14 November 1967 (aged 72), Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Batting style Right-hand bat (RHB)
Bowling style Right-arm slow medium
International information
National side
  • Indian
Test debut (cap 7) 25 June 1932 v England
Last Test 15 August 1936 v England
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:

Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu ( pronunciation  (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as 'CK', was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches.[2] He 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 innings. He was also the first Indian cricketer to endorse a brand (Bathgate Liver Tonic) in 1941.

Nayudu As Captain

The 1932 Indian Test Cricket team that toured England. Maharaja of Porbandar, H.H. Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji (Captain), seated 3rd from right with K. S. Limbdi (Vice-captain) sitting on his right and C. K. Nayudu sitting on his left.

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 15 and 18 December, was watched by over 100,000 spectators. India lost the series by two Tests to nil.

Early career

Nayudu was born on 31 October 1895 in Bara BadaNagpurto Cottari Surya Prakash Rao Nayudu son of Rai Bahadur Cottari Narayan Swamy Nayudu who is acknowledged as sixty eight Great Men of Bharatkhand, was a lawyer and landlord owning several villages and sizable chunk in Nagpur.Besides being a flourishing lawyer he was a pioneer member of All India National Congress party.he was affluent enough to send both his sons to England for further studies. His elder son Cottari Vekatramana Nayudu was married to Raja Prabhakar moorthy of Eluru and had no issue.The younger son Cottari Soorya Prakash Rao Nayudu had four other sons and two daughters, did his B.A. and M.A at Downing College, Cambridge University and was called to the bar, Middle Temple in 1891. He was acclaimed for his physical prowess and known as Hercules in Cambridge varsity Campus. He was Justice in High court of Holkar State for some years and functioned as Chief justice for some time. Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar was ruler in those days.The Maharajah had put in record that he had faith in only two persons- Sooya Prakash Rao being the first.KS. ranjitsinhji of Nawa Nagar who played for Sussex and England was contemporary of C SooryaPrakash rao nayudu while at Cambridge.[3]

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.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Cricket archive profile".
  2. ↑ "C.K Nayudu - The First India Captain". Sporteology.com. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  3. ↑ Nayudu, Prakash. CK.Nayudu Cricketer-Skipper-Patriarch. Indore: Print Vision. p. 4.
  4. ↑ Williamson, Martin. "Ripe old age". ESPN. Retrieved 24 May 2011.

Further reading

External links

Preceded by
Inaugural		 Indian National Test Cricket Captain
1932-1933/4 		Succeeded by
Maharajkumar of Vizianagram