 "Dattajirao Gaekwad")
Team India is sporting black armbands on Day 3 of the third Test against England at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday, February 17. It was in memory of Dattaji Rao Gaekwad, India's oldest Test cricket player, who passed away on February 13, 2024, in his hometown of Baroda, Gujarat.
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Who was Dattajirao Gaekwad?
Gaekwad, an old servant of Indian cricket, made his debut in June 1952 on a tour of England. He played 11 Tests between 1952 and 1961, scoring 352 runs with a high score of 52 at an average of 18.42. He was the father of another Indian cricketer, Anshuman Gaekwad.
Dattajirao even captained the Indian team on England's tour of 1959. He played 110 first-class matches from 1947/48 to 1963/64. In those, he scored 5788 runs with 17 centuries and 23 fifties.
#TeamIndia will be wearing black arm bands in memory of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former India captain and India’s oldest Test cricketer who passed away recently.#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2024
On commentary for the third Test, Sunil Gavaskar, former India cricketer, said, "Dattaji was a great fielder too. Quoting Tony Cozier, Gavaskar said that the 1953 that toured England, including Dattaji, was one of the best fielding units to have come to Great Britain."
| Dattajirao Gaekwad career stats | ||||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||||
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | 100s | 50s | 6s | Ct |
| Tests | 11 | 20 | 1 | 350 | 52 | 18.42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| FC | 110 | 172 | 13 | 5788 | 249* | 36.4 | 17 | 23 | - | 49 |
| Bowling | ||||||||||
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR |
| Tests | 11 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | - | - | - | 6 | - |
| FC | 110 | - | 1904 | 1016 | 25 | 4/117 | - | 40.64 | 3.2 | 76.1 |
