AG Ram Singh

AG Ram Singh takes his place as among the unluckiest cricketers in the history of Indian cricket. Despite herculean deeds in the Ranji Trophy for well over a decade, he never represented the country in official Tests and played in just two unofficial `Tests' against Jack Ryder's team in 1935-36 and Lord Tennyson's side two years later. His chief claim to fame is being the second cricketer after Amar Singh to have completed the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in the national competition when opportunities were rather limited. Indeed, he played only 27 Ranji Trophy matches in all, though these were spread over 14 successive seasons.

It did not take long for the mild mannered sardar from Madras to create ripples, for in the first ever match in the national competition at Chepauk in November 1934, he took 6 for 19 in the first innings and 5 for 16 in the second with his left arm spinners to bundle out Mysore and help Madras win in just a day. He then went on to pick up eleven more in the next match against Hyderabad. He was as effective with the willow as with the red cherry. A pugnacious left handed batsman, he played the square cut, the hook and the short arm pull with aplomb. After such a dream debut, he continued his good run and became the first Madras player to get a century in the Ranji Trophy. He came very close to Indian selection for the tours to England both in 1936 and ten years later. But his only reward was a tour to Ceylon in 1945. After his retirement from the game. he continued to serve the game as a coach and, true to his stature, produced some cricketers who went on to play for India. (Natarajan Sriram)