A Prince among batsmen

[AsifTheManRahman]

A masterpiece on the inventor of the leg glance, the first colored English player and the guy India's main domestic competition is named after. It's interesting how leg-side shots were considered "ungentlemanly" back in the days.

A prince among batsmen
Over a century ago, the English game was transformed by an Indian who went on to become the most popular cricketer in the Empire
Gideon Haigh
August 24, 2009


Perhaps no cricketer in history has been as romanticised and sentimentalised as Ranjitsinhji. It testifies to his uniqueness that this romance and sentimentality do not significantly enlarge on reality. WG Grace prophesied that there would not be a batsman like Ranji for a hundred years. This is inherently untestable, but it did set a remarkably high standard.

Ranji was not only the first well-known Indian cricketer, but "the first Indian of any kind to become universally known and popular" - as John Lord puts it in The Maharajahs. And this through a concatenation of circumstances that has inspired not only four biographies but two novels: Ian Buruma's Playing the Game and John Masters' The Ravi Lancers.

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[Tigers_eye]

HHS. Koyek bosor agey same shala'rey niya ekta article liksilo.
Look at the footnote. Recycle bin thika tuila ansey.
Amagorey ki "moga" paisey? Naki faltu cheap stuff throwing down our throats?

including this one, were first published in Wisden Asia Cricket magazine in 2002

[Imteaz]

Nice Article. Good to read. Thanks.

[One World]

I remember reading the Wisden article.

[bujhee kom]

Good read, thanks Asif bhai!

[revolver]

tnx for sharing it out

[auntu]

Thanks Asif bhai. Nice article.