D. B. Deodhar
Dinkar Balwant Deodhar (14 January 1892 – 24 August 1993) was an Indian cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1911 to 1948.
 Deodhar on a 1996 stamp of India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 14 January 1892 Pune, British India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 24 August 1993 (aged 101) Pune, India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Legbreak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 7 July 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cricket career
Deodhar was born in Poona (now Pune), British India. He was a professor of Sanskrit at Pune College.[1]
Popularly known as the Grand Old Man of Indian Cricket, he was an aggressive right-hand batsman and a leg-break bowler. He captained Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy matches from 1939 to 1941. In his first-class career, he played 81 matches, scoring 4522 runs at an average of 39.32 with a highest score of 246.[2]
He was Vice President of the BCCI, the President of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, and also a national selector. The Deodhar Trophy, a limited overs inter-zonal cricket tournament played in India since 1973, is named after him. In 1996, India Post issued a commemorative stamp in his honour. A statue of D. B. Deodhar was unveiled at Pune's Sahara cricket stadium in 2012.
Like Bill Ashdown, he is one of the few people known to have played first-class cricket both before the First World War and after the Second World War, having played in the Bombay Triangular in 1911 and the Ranji Trophy in 1946.[3]
He was awarded the Padma Shri award in 1965 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991 by the Indian Government.[4] He is the only Indian first-class cricketer known to have lived to 100.
Personal life
India's former National Badminton Champions Tara Deodhar, Sunder Deodhar, and Suman Deodhar are his daughters.
References
- Krishnan, Sankhya (24 August 2000). "Deodhar: Professor Emeritus of Indian cricket". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- "D. B. Deodhar". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- Coverdale, Brydon (11 March 2017). "It takes a rare cricketer to reach a century, not just make one". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
External links
- D. B. Deodhar at ESPNcricinfo
- D. B. Deodhar at CricketArchive (subscription required)