by Sumit Gangopadhyay

Bespectacled left-arm orthodox spinner Dilip Doshi was born on 22nd December, 1947.

In 33 Tests for India, he captured 114 wickets with a best of 6 for 102. In 15 ODIs his tally of wickets was 22, with 4/22 being his best effort.

However, admirable though his Test career is, the highest form of cricket came late in his life and lasted for just a few years. Let us take a look at all the other grades he was involved in.

Doshi was the architect of Calcutta University’s only triumph in the Rohinton Baria Trophy. In the Varsity matches he captured 61 wickets.

In the Ranji Trophy, his haul for Bengal reads 311. Apart from these, he also played county cricket for Sussex, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire. His overall tally in First-Class cricket was 898 wickets. In hisn final season he represented Saurashtra.

Also, he turned out for Hertfordshire and Northumberland in the Minor County Championships and captured 85 wickets in 17 matches. Besides this, he also played for the Second XIs of Susssex, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. Finally, he played for Sussex Under-25 in the Warwick Pool Under 25 in 1972.

In the Lancashire League he bowled for Ramsbottom in a solitary match in 1978. After his First-Class career, he continued to turn out for Sir Paul Getty’s XI regularly till 1998 and then occasionally up to 2001.

Turning to club cricket in Calcutta, we see that he took the field for Sporting Union.

Son Nayan Doshi emulated him by becoming a left-arm spinner and playing 70 First-Class matches in India and England, for Saurashtra, Surrey and Derbyshire.

Dilip Doshi’s autobiography Spin Punch makes for rewarding reading, and especially a mine of information with respect to cricket in Bengal and Calcutta.

He should have perhaps played more Tests. Doshi made his debut at the age of 32 and remains one of the 7 cricketers to have captured 100 Test wickets after playing their first Test at 30-plus.

Translated from Bengali by Arunabha Sengupta