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Former Indian
Captain Umrigar passes away |
November 08, 2006
Pahlanji Ratanji Umrigar better known as Polly
Umrigar had passed away on Tuesday night
following prolonged illness. The cause of his
death was a lymph cancer which was diagnosed in
June 2006. He passed away at the age of 80 years
and 224 days.
Polly had made his Test Debut way back in 1948
against West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium in
Bombay. He had played 59 Test Matches in an
international career which lasted 14 years. He
was a six-foot middle order batsman who could
bowl some useful off breaks and at times medium
pace with the new ball. He was a Record Maker
for India! Some of his achievements include
being the first ever Indian batsman to score a
double century in Test Cricket. Umrigar had
scored 223 against New Zealand at the Lal
Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad in 1955-56;
incidentally he was the Skipper of the Indian
team in that test match. He was also the star of
India’s first ever Test victory which had come
against England at Madras in 1951-52 with a 130
not out scored at no.7.
Umrigar had led India in 8 Tests with two wins
and two losses along with four drawn. Only two
Indian cricketers have so far been able to score
a century and take five wickets in an innings,
one of which is Vinoo Mankad while the other is
Polly Umrigar who had achieved this against West
Indies in Port of Spain in 1962. His last Test
Match was against West Indies in that same
series at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
He retired with 3631 runs at a healthy average
of 42.22 with 12 centuries and 14 fifties. He
had played first class cricket for Parsees,
Bombay and Gujarat. Post retirement he had
served as the Chairman of the National Selectors
between 1978 and 1982, had been the Manager of
the Indian Team on three tours in the 70s. He
was also in the BCCI as the Executive Secretary.
Polly Umrigar was also instrumental in building
the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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