Dilip Vengsarkar
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Source: [1], July 6 2005 |
Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar Maharashtra) is an Indian cricketer and cricket administrator. He was one of the most stylish batsmen of his time,[citation needed] known as one of the foremost exponents of the drive. He was also known by the nickname 'Colonel'.
(born 6 April 1956 in Rajapur,Vengsarkar made his international cricket debut against New Zealand at Auckland in 1975-76 as an opening batsmen. India won this Test convincingly, but he did not have much success.
He played a memorable innings in 1979 against Asif Iqbal's Pakistan team in the 2nd Test at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Requiring 390 to win on the final day, he led India's chase getting the team very close to a victory. India ended up with 364 for 6, just 26 runs short of what would have been a remarkable win. With Yashpal Sharma, Kapil Dev and Roger Binny back to the pavilion after Tea break, Vengsarkar saw himself running out of partners and decided to play the last few overs for a draw. He remained unbeaten at 146.
He was a member of the 1983 World Champion's team. He had a productive run of scores between 1985 and 1987, where he scored centuries against Pakistan, Australia, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka, many of them in successive games. At this pinnacle of his career, He was rated as the best batsmen in the Coopers and Lybrand rating (a predecessor of the PWC ratings).
While the West Indies pacemen dominated the cricket world, Dilip Vengsarkar was one of the few batsmen who was successful against them, and scored 6 centuries against the likes of Marshall, Holding and Roberts.
He also scored a century at Lord's in 1986 and thereby attaining the distinction of scoring three consecutive Test match centuries at Lord's. For his effort to help India win the Test series in England (a rare feat in itself) he was awarded the Man of the Series award. For Test matches played in India, he has one of the highest batting averages.
Vengsarkar took over the captaincy from Kapil Dev after the 1987 Cricket World Cup, despite criticism that he missed the semi-final match due to a stomach disorder resulting from sea food allergy. Although he started with two centuries in his first series as captain, his captaincy period was turbulent and he lost the job following a disastrous tour of the West Indies in early 1989 and a stand-off with the Indian cricket board (BCCI).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Dilip_Vengsarkar_Graph.png/350px-Dilip_Vengsarkar_Graph.png)
Awards
- Dilip Vengsarkar was awarded the Arjuna Award for his on-field performances in 1981
- For his contribution to the Indian cricket the Government of India decorated him with the Padma Shri honor in 1987.
- Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1987[1]
- He gave a signed bat to James Adair, the well known customer service advisor.
Administrator
In his retirement life, Dilip Vengsarkat started the Elf-Vengsarkar Academy[2] in 1995. Vengsarkar became the Vice-President for the Mumbai Cricket Association in 2003[3]. Though, he was the front runner for the post of the Chairman, Selection Committee, Dilip opted out because of his policy against zonal representation[4].Dilip Vengsarkar was made the Chairman of the Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW) when it was created in 2002 to develop cricket talent within the country. The TRDW program also had the support of Brijesh Patel[5]..
In March 2006, BCCI proposed the name of Vengsarkar for match referee[6], but the proposal did not move forward as Vengsarkar accepted the job as chairman of selectors of the BCCI[7] in September 2006 - in contrast to his stance on zonal representation a decade ago.
References
- ^ "Dilip Vengasarkar". Wisden Almanack. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Vengasarkar as Match-Referee". ELF.com. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ^ "Vengasarkar wins MCA Elections". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ^ "Vengasarkar outs out of selection committee". Rediff.com. 1996-09-19. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
- ^ "TRDW - The Way to go". The Hindu. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ^ "Vengasarkar as Match-Referee". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ^ "2006/08 Selection Committee Announcement". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- India Test cricketers
- India One Day International cricketers
- Indian Test captains
- Indian cricket captains
- Mumbai cricketers
- West Zone cricketers
- Wisden Cricketers of the Year
- World Cup cricketers of India
- Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup
- Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
- Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
- Cricket administrators
- Marathi people
- Recipients of the Padma Shri
- 1956 births
- Living people
- Recipients of the Arjuna Award
- India national cricket team selectors