by Abhishek Mukherjee

John R Reid – the initial is needed because John F Reid was also a competent batsman – captained New Zealand 34 times. He led them to their first three Test wins.

But Reid's legacy exceeds beyond the boundaries of his country. Had there been no Sobers, Reid might have been considered the finest all-rounder of the era. His success as captain was just another aspect of his terrific career.

Reid could hit hard off both the front foot and the back; bowl at genuine pace as well as medium-paced off-cutters, even off-breaks; was a terrific fielder; and kept wickets.

And outside cricket, he was a more than competent swimmer, sprinter, and boxer. And by his own admission, he was better at rugby than at cricket.

But more importantly, unlike some of his contemporaries, Reid was not a professional cricketer, unlike, say, Sobers, who played cricket in both England and Australia. New Zealand were the minnows of world cricket during his career. The infrastructure was not what it is now.

When his contemporaries were making money in professional cricket, Reid was running to run a Shell depot, finding time to lead his country, with almost no world-class teammate to support him. Glenn Turner would change some of that in the 1970s.

In India in 1955-56, Reid scored 493 runs at 70. While these are excellent numbers, what made him stand out was the way he mastered Gupte, something very few men had done. Reid picked Gupte. He used to annoy Gupte. When an irritated Gupte bowled wide, hoping for Reid to make an error, Reid would not even lift his bat.

Perhaps the only man who could annoy Gupte.

Reid scored 546 runs at 61 and took 11 wickets at under 20 in South Africa in 1961-62. Other than Sobers, he is the only captain to have done the 500-run-10-wicket double in a series.

South Africa went 1-0 up in the series, then 2-1, but New Zealand levelled the series 2-2. These were their second and third ever Test wins.

There were other feats too. Batting for Wellington against Southern Districts in 1962-63, he hit 15 sixes – a world record that stood for 32 years.

That same season he scored a hundred out of a total of 159 against England at Christchurch. This is still the lowest Test score to include a hundred.

And after his retirement, he played in what is believed to be the first cricket match at the South Pole.

John R Reid was born on 3 June 1928.