A match-winner in his own right

August 8, 1940: Born in Margao, India.

November 1960: Scored 87 in his first-class debut in Pune for Indian Universities against the visiting Pakistanis.

January 1961 : Notched up his maiden first-class century, in only his second match, at Bangalore for Indian Board President's XI against Pakistan.

February 1961: Selected to represent Bombay in a Ranji Trophy game against Delhi. It was a quiet debut, he scored 21.

December 1961: Made his Test debut against Ted Dexter's England side at Kanpur and was out hit wicket for 28.

1964: Scored an impressive 449 runs, including five fifties, in a five-Test home series against MJK Smith's England side.

1965: Scored 200 not out, his first Test century, and helped India stave off defeat after they followed on against New Zealand at the Brabourne stadium in Bombay. Amassed 360 runs at an average of 120 in the three-Test series.

1967: Dropped from national squad after averaging just 10 through the year.

1969: Recalled for the first Test against Australia at Bombay. He was discarded after he failed in both the innings.

1970: Awarded the prestigious Arjuna award for his exploits on the cricket field.

February 1971 to April 1971: High point of his career as he made a fairytale comeback and scored a colossal 642 runs, including three centuries, to help India win their first Test and series against the West Indies. His 212 in the first Test, a record for an Indian on foreign soil at that time, set the tone for the series as it enabled India to enforce the follow-on against West Indies for the first time. In the next Test, his century in the first innings led India to the famous victory at Port of Spain. He also played a vital role in the fourth Test at Barbados; stroking a superb 150 after coming in at 64 for 4 (soon to become 70 for 6) in reply to West Indies' mammoth 501.

August 1971: Played two crucial innings of 54 and 40 at The Oval to help India win a historic first Test series against England in England.

1972: Played the last of his 30 Tests, at the Feroz Shah Kotla, against England. He scored 2001 runs at the Test level at an average of nearly 40.

1973: Retired from first-class cricket. Between 1961-1973, he appeared for Bombay in 10 Ranji Trophy finals, emerging victorious on each occasion.