India's first cricket test team - K S Limbdi

K S Limbdi

Ghanshyamsinhji Daulatsinhji was a prince of the state of Limbdi, a princely state located in the current Indian state of Gujarat. He was a cousin of K S Duleepsinhji  and brother-in-law of  the caption for 1923 tour, Maharaja of Porbandar . He was the Vice Captain for the 1932 team , but missed out on India's maiden test match due to a back injury. 

He played 11 matches in 1932 tour and scored 160 runs at an average of 10.66
Cricinfo mentions the numbers as 154 with an average of 9.62. Possibly the did not consider the match England XI v Indians. That gives a total of 154, but still the average is 11. This is something to be checked

His matches during the tour were:

Oxford University v Indians

Batted at number 6 in the first innings and was out caught by van der Bijl off the bowling of Barlow for 2. Did not bat in the second innings
Captained in this match

Marylebone Cricket Club v Indians

Batted at number 8 and was bowled for 11 runs by Bowes. He did not bat in the second innings
Captained in this match

Hampshire v Indians

Batted at number 8 , scored 0 and 1 and got out to Bailey in both the innings

Captained in this match

Cambridge University v Indians

Batted at number 6 and scored 11 runs before getting out to Rought-Rought. Maharaja of Porbandar was captain in this match and incidentally he got out to Rought-Rought as well
Did not bat in the second innings

Nottinghamshire v Indians

Back as captain
Batted at number 8 and scored 5 ( Out to Voce )  and 12 ( Out to SJ Staples)  . This match he took 2 catches off Amar Singh's bowling

Lancashire v Indians



He is marked as captain of the team, but was absent hurt in both the innings. 




Gloucestershire v Indians



After missing 9 matches, including the maiden test match, he is back as the captain and had his best match of the tour so far. Scord 10 and 39 batting at number 8 and also took 4 catches.




Surrey v Indians



Scored 7, 43 at number 8 and also took a catch. He captained the team





Derbyshire v Indians

Promoted hiselft to number 6. But had a bad match. Just scored 3, 0 at number 8. Took 2 catches. Captained the team as well.

Kent v Indians

Bagged a pair batting at number 8. Captained the team

England XI v Indians

Scored 6 and 4 notout at number 9.Captained the team

He scored 19 first class matches in his career scoring 505 runs at at average of 17.41. His highest score was 57 scored for his own team, KS Ghanshyamsinhji of Limbdi's XII, against Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram's XI, in a trial match for the 1932 tour

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches
Photo

India's first cricket test team - Maharaja of Porbandar

Maharaja of Porbandar

                                              

Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji was the last Maharaja of Porbandar, a princely state located in the current Indian state of Gujarat. Porbandar is more famous among Indians as the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, whose father served as a Diwan ( Chief Minister ) of Porbandar. India's first test tour was to be captained by a Royal as per the norms of the time.
Initially Maharaja of Patiala was supposed to lead the All-India team's 1932 tour to England but had to withdraw due to ill health. 

Maharaja of Porbandar was appointed as the captain to satisfy the requirement of royalty even though his skills as a cricketer were very much limited.

He played just 4 matches in 1932 tour and scored just 2 runs. A cricinfo article mentions that it was just one shot, a leg side glance for 2 at Cardiff Vs Glamorgan. He was reputed to own more Rolls Royce cards (7) than the runs he scored in the tour, which reminded me of another royal of recent times, Sultan Zarawani 

But he showed good judgement and lack of ego in handing over the reins of the team to C K Nayudu. On his return to India, be played just 1 more match, which implies he was selected to captain the tour after playing just a single match. Those were very different times where family pedigree was more important than the actual skills. 

His matches during the tour were:

Sussex Vs Indians

Batted at number 9 in the first innings and was out bowled by Tate before opening his account. Did not bat in the second innings

Glamorgan Vs Indians

Again batted at number 9. This time opened his account before being bowled for 2 runs by Jones. He did not bat in the second innings

Essex v Indians

He skipped a few matches before coming back to the team in this match, but rain ans some good batting by his team mates denied him chance to bat

Cambridge University v Indians

Promoted himself to number 8, but was caught by Titley off the bowling of Rought-Rought for 0
Again, did not bat in the second innings



He was painter, write and musician. Wiki mentions that he has written 4 books and jointly composed a waltz. He also played a big part in putting together Kriti Mandir , a memorial for Gandhiji

References:

Cricinfo
Wiki
Regarding Porbandar princely state
Royals in cricket
Porbandar
First Test Match Details
All the tour matches