|
| |
English
|
| |
England
|
| |
Eng
|
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Ranjitsinhji
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Cricket_no_picpng
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Right-handed batsman (RHB)
|
| |
n/a
|
| |
15
|
| |
989
|
| |
4495
|
| |
2/6
|
| |
175
|
| |
97
|
| |
1
|
| |
3900
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
1/23
|
| |
13/0
|
| |
307
|
| |
24,692
|
| |
5637
|
| |
72/109
|
| |
285
|
| |
8,056
|
| |
133
|
| |
3459
|
| |
4
|
| |
0
|
| |
6/53
|
| |
233/0
|
| |
16 July
|
| |
1896
|
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26 July
|
| |
1902
|
(
10 September 1872 –
2 April 1933 ) was an
India n nobleman and
Test Cricket er who played for the
English Cricket Team . He also played
First-class Cricket for
Cambridge University , and
County Cricket for
Sussex . His name was very often shortened to '''Ranjitsinhji''', or simply '''Ranji''', and he was also known as the "Black Prince of Cricketers".
Ranji is widely regarded as one of the greatest is perhaps most famous. The most important first-class cricket tournament in India, the
Ranji Trophy , was named in his honour and inaugurated in
1935 by the Maharaja
Bhupindra Singh of
Patiala .
Outside cricket, Ranji became
Maharaja Jam Sahib of
Nawanagar in
1907 ; was Chancellor of the Indian
Chamber Of Princes ; and represented India at the
League Of Nations . His official title was
Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar
GBE KCSI .
Ranji was born in
Sarodar , a small village in the western Indian province of
Kathiawar , into a wealthy Indian family of princely status. His clan, the
Jadeja s, were
Rajput warriors who claimed to be descended from the
Persian ruler,
Jamshed , deriving from him their title.
Ranji was educated at the prestigious
Rajkumar College Rajkot and at
Harrow and
Trinity College ,
Cambridge University , where he arrived in
1891 .
Prior to his arrival at Cambridge, Ranji had never played an organised game of cricket. Nevertheless, he won a cricket
Blue in his final year. After graduating, Ranji moved to play county cricket for Sussex. He played his first county match at
Lord's in May
1895 .
CB Fry became a close friend.
Ranji made his Test debut for England in
1896 becoming the first Indian to play Test cricket for that country. His nephew,
KS Duleepsinhji , also played for England later. Ranji scored 62 and 154 not out against
Australia at
Old Trafford in his first Test, becoming the second batsman after
W. G. Grace to score a century on his debut for England and also the first batsman to score 100 before lunch (on the third day, moving from 41 not out to 154 not out in just over 2 hours). He scored 175 in the first
Innings of his first overseas Test, also against Australia in
1897 (at that time it was the highest score that had ever been made for England in Test cricket). Ranji's feat of scoring hundreds in his debut home and away Tests was not emulated by any English player until
Andrew Strauss in 2004.
Ranji scored runs very heavily in county and Test cricket between 1895 and 1905, passing 1,000 runs in 10 successive domestic seasons (over 3,000 runs in 1899 and 1900) and captaining Sussex from 1899 to 1903. He returned to India at the end of 1904, but came back to play two further complete English seasons for Sussex (1908 and 1912), again scoring 1,000 runs each time. Ranji returned to England a final time to play in three matches for Sussex in 1920: aged 48, overweight, and blind in one eye after a shooting accident at
Crosseliff in
Yorkshire , he spectacularly failed to achieve his former standards.
Ranji played 15
Test Match es for England between 1896 and 1902, scoring 989 runs with a
Batting Average of 44.95. In all first-class cricket, he scored 24,692 runs in 307 matches, with an average of 56.37, including 72 centuries, with a highest score of 285 not out. Ranji was a ''
Wisden ''
Cricketer Of The Year in 1897,
Queen Victoria 's
Diamond Jubilee year; in the same year, he published the classic ''
The Jubilee Book Of Cricket ''.
Ranji became Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar on
10 March 1907 , and played an important role in improving the living conditions for the people of his home state. He became Chancellor of the Indian Chamber of Princes and represented India in the League of Nations after the
First World War , being awarded the
GBE and
KCSI . Ranji died in
Jamnagar Palace ,
India aged 60.
