Remembering Dattajirao Gaekwad: An Unsung Hero of Indian Cricket

Dattajirao Gaekwad was an unexpected Indian captain who, with a cover drive to die for, matched the unmatched Vijay Hazare stroke for stroke. Given his skill, the Baroda player ought to have played more than 11 Test matches.

Gaekwad passed away on Tuesday at the age of 95 in his birthplace of Baroda. In terms of statistics, he was the oldest Indian Test cricket player still active since Deepak Shodhan passed away in 2016.


Even though he played at the top level from 1952 to 1961, those cover drives, which were a nightmare for the Bombay sides of the 1950s, never fully clicked.

Compared to his father, his son Aunshuman was more successful with a tight defensive approach. Aunshuman played 40 Tests during the 1970s and the 1980s.

However, not every cricket player in the first 25 years after independence could be assessed using the statistical lens. During a period when the national team was losing more matches than winning, they had a Test average of less than 20 spread across nine years.

During their catastrophic 1959 tour of England, he also captained India in four of the five Test matches. Because of his alleged closeness to the national team manager, Fatehsinh Gaekwad, the former Maharaja of Baroda, his position was seen by some as tantamount to nepotism.

When summarizing the series, Wisden said that his captaincy "lacked verve and personality," demonstrating that he wasn't exactly a charismatic leader. The fact that Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the greatest British cricket writer of that period, described his cover drives as "delightfully crisp" gave him some comfort.

The right-hander played his last international match in 1961 in Madras against Pakistan after making his debut against England in Leeds in 1952.

He will cherish his little piece of history as an Indian captain, and no one can take that away from him.

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