Dattaram Hindlekar

HINDLEKAR, D. D., one of the best wicket-keepers ever produced by India, died at Bombay on March 30, aged 40. He was one of the small band of cricketers who opened an innings and went in last in separate Test Matches. Hindlekar toured England in 1936 and 1946 and altogether played in four Test Matches. At Manchester in the Second Test in 1946 he and Sohoni, the last pair, stayed together for the last thirteen minutes of the match and warded off defeat. During the 1936 tour he opened the innings in the First Test at Lord's, but subsequently chipped a bone in a finger and also was troubled by blurred vision. Ten years later a strained back kept him out of several matches.

His choice for the 1946 visit to England was unexpected, for he was then 37, but such was his form in the Bombay Pentangular final of 1945-46 that he could not be overlooked. Never spectacular, but always sound, both behind the stumps and when batting, Hindlekar was a cheerful personality and an extremely popular member of the touring parties.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack