Deepak Shodhan, India’s oldest Test cricketer, died at his residence in Ahmedabad on Monday. He was 87 and 210 days old.
“He had respiratory issues and died of a heart attack. The Shodhan family was at his residence,” said Gokul, son of Deepak Shodhan’s elder brother Jyotindra who is 91 and lives in Ahmedabad. Jyotindra is the oldest living Gujarat cricketer who played the Ranji Trophy. A relative told The Hindu that Shodhan was diagnosed with cancer.
Shodhan was a left-hand batsman and bowler and became famous for making a century (110) on Test debut against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in December 1952. He batted at No. 8 and faced the likes of the great Fazal Mahmood and Mahmood Hussain. He was batting on 91 when last man Ghulam Ahmed came in. “I told Ghulam that I was very eager to score a century. There were other players in the Indian team who wanted Ghulam to throw his wicket, but Ghulam was a thorough gentleman. Only Lala Amarnath came out to applaud my effort,” Shodhan had told this reporter in the course of an interview to Sportstar on February 11, 2016.
After Lala Amarnath, the left-hander from Gujarat, Shodhan became the second Indian to score a century on debut. He was included in the XI after Vijay Hazare did not turn up for the Test at Calcutta. Shodhan played two more Tests against the West Indies at Port of Spain and Kingston in 1953.
“I believe in destiny. I made my Ranji Trophy debut against Western India States Cricket Association (WISCA) or Kathiawar at Rajkot in January 1947 because Jasu Patel did not show up fearing he would be called (for chucking) by one of the umpires. We were raised on matting wickets and there was no one to encourage players from Gujarat,” said Shodhan, who gave an impression that he did not get along well with Vinoo Mankad and did not think highly of Col. C.K. Nayudu.
Shodhan played three Tests, scored 181 runs, ave. 60.33 and 43 first-class matches and scored 1802 runs (HS 261, 4x100) and took 73 wickets bowling left-arm spin.
