April 17, 2017 marks the birth centenary of Vinoo Mankad, India’s first world-class all-rounder. We celebrate his achievements in a career that spanned over two decades
Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad hailed from Jamnagar (then Nawanagar) in Gujarat, a region that also produced cricketing legends like Ranjitsinhji, Duleepsinhji, Amar Singh and L Ramji. In his early days, Mankad was fortunate to have been coached by Duleep and Bert Wensley, a Sussex allrounder. In fact, Mankad started off as a medium-pacer, but Wensley convinced him to switch to left-arm spin. Mankad became one of India’s best spinners in his era.
Mankad played a big part in India’s first ever Test win, in 1952. In the fifth Test at Chepauk, Madras, Mankad took 8 for 55 in the first innings and 4 for 53 in the second, finishing with a match haul of 12 for 108. He sent down 68.5 overs in the match. Mankad finished with 162 wickets in 44 Tests. Being India’s frontline spinner, however, he was often overbowled. With a lesser workload, he may have taken more wickets.
Months after the famous win at Madras, Mankad had a profound impact in another Test against England. Mankad wasn’t even in the original touring party, following a misunderstanding with the Indian cricket board. However, he was included for the Lord’s Test after India’s heavy defeat at Leeds. Mankad scored 72 and 184 and toiled for 73 overs to take 5 for 196. Mankad’s efforts went in vain as India still lost. Nevertheless, Wisden called it one of the greatest performances in a losing cause. This Lord’s Test was otherwise known as ‘Mankad’s Test’.
In November 1952, Mankad became the quickest to achieve the Test ‘double’ of 100 wickets and 1000 runs. He reached the mark in the Bombay Test against Pakistan. Mankad held the world record for 27 years, before Ian Botham surpassed him.
Mankad was the owner of another world record, three years later. Mankad and fellow opening batsman Pankaj Roy added 413 for the first wicket in a Test against New Zealand at Madras, at the Corporation Stadium. Mankad scored 213, Roy 173. The world record for the first wicket stood for 52 years.
In 44 Tests, Mankad scored 2109 runs at an average of 31.47 with five hundreds and six fifties. He scored both his Test double-hundreds at the age of 38. He also holds the distinction of having batted in all 11 positions in his Test career.
Mankad with his family in Bombay in 1956. Three of his sons, Ashok, Atul and Rahul, played first-class cricket. Of the three, only Ashok played for India (22 Tests).
