Cotar Ramaswami

In 1985, at the age of 89, Cotar Ramaswami left his home in Madras and has never been seen or heard of since. Although his whereabouts have never been confirmed, Wisden list him as "death unknown" and his family knew little except that he didn't want to be a burden to them. Tall and sturdy, Ramaswami was one of the few double internationals. He played in the Davis Cup in the 1920s and then represented India in two Tests on the tour of England in 1936. He was one of the surprise selections for the trip and as he put it modestly in his autobiography Ramblings of a Games Addict he had been chosen "for reasons other than cricket" as he had become "bulky and slow". But his performances on the tour suggest otherwise. Not only did he score 737 runs (average 30.70) in first-class games but he also topped the Test averages ahead of such contemporaries as Vijay Merchant, Mushtaq Ali and CK Nayudu. He made his debut in the second Test at Old Trafford and at the age of 40 years, 37 days, the second oldest Indian to make a debut. He scored 40 and 60 to help India draw the game and then in the final Test at the Oval he made two more valuable contributions of 29 and 41 not out to finish with 170 runs at 56.66.

That remained the extent of Ramaswami's international career but he was a stalwart for Madras in the early days of the Ranji Trophy for several years. A free stroking left hander with the ability to drive powerfully on both sides of the wicket, Ramaswami represented Hindus in the Bombay Quadrangular and Pentangular. He was the manager of the first Indian team to the West Indies in 1953 and in the late fifties was a national selector.
Partab Ramchand