Thaindian News

London, Sep 11 (IANS) Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has led eminent cricketers in London in honouring the original Indian cricketing hero, K.S. Ranjitsinhji, with one devotee describing him as the “greatest batsman of all time”.
Ranjitsinhji, who played for England in the late 19th and 20th centuries, was tributed Thursday on his 137th birth anniversary at the Nehru Centre here with Gavaskar lighting a lamp in Ranji’s memory.

The former Indian opening batsman and Test captain was followed by Mike Brearley, one of England’s most successful captains, former Test bowler Dilip Doshi and David Collier, chief executive of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), besides others.

Also present at the function, organised by veteran cricket commentator Ashis Ray, was former Pakistani captain Asif Iqbal.

Charles Fry, chairman of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and whose famous cricketer-grandfather C.B. Fry was Ranji’s contemporary, remarked that in the Fry family they believe “Ranji was the greatest batsman of all time”.

Launching an annual Ranji memorial lecture, former Sussex captain, distinguished cricket writer and former MCC president Robin Marlar said the current crop of cricket administrators needed to show better “leadership” in order to “protect, preserve and make prosperous Test cricket”.

He criticised the recent and present members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — crucial for test cricket’s financial well-being — for being greedy and not upholding the spirit of cricket.

Ranji, captain of the English county side Sussex, hit an unbeaten 154 on his Test debut for England in 1896 — the knock against Australia at Old Trafford, Manchester, including a remarkable compilation of 113 runs in a two-hour session.

The doyen of English cricket writers, the late Sir Neville Cardus famously wrote: “When he (Ranji) batted, a strange light was seen for the first time on English fields.”