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.
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:
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
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