Harsh Thakor
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Today on April 12th,2017 we commemorate the birth centenary of the legendary all-rounder Vinoo Mankad.All cricket fans today must bow down to this immortal figure whose memories should be cherished till the game of cricket exists.Few cricketers ever were bestowed with more natural talent or could single-handedly carry the burden of the team on his shoulders with both bat and ball.I hope pak passion viewers would join me in this tribute.
Morally even Keith Miller or Jacques Kallis did not equal Mankad's herculean effort at Lords in 1952 when he scored 72 and 184 and took 5 wickets for 196 runs.In my view had Mankad played in the era of Imran.Botham,Kapil and Hadlee he may well have been the best of them all.Scale his figures in proportion of tests he played and the side he played for and Mankad may have joined Miller or Kallis.In my book I would declare a draw between Kapil Dev and Mankad and choose Vinoo Mankad in my all-time left handers world xi. I would also carve a place for Vinoo in the 100 all-time best cricketers.Mankad is the only member of the great all-rounders club who was an opening batsmen and he scored 2 double hundreds in that position.No all-rounder has batted and bowled for such a long duration in tests as Vinoo.Above all Mankad took artistry in bowling to it's supreme depth and in term sof pure batting concentration only Sobers and Kallis surpassed him amongst the all-rounders.He may not have had the flamboyance of a Botham or Kapil Dev with the bat bit could be the architect of a famous win by laying a foundation.In an all-time left-handers xi his guile would bemuse oposing right-handed greats and his batting would wear down great bowling attacks.No all-rounder ever was an equal of Mankad as a spin bowler.Vinoo encountered some of the finest opposition in his times.Remarkably he surpased even Tenduulkar's age when retiring and gave his career best performances at the ripe old age of 39.At his best Mankad may have surpassed Keith Miller and won a place in team on the strength of his batting and bowling alone.
Below is a tribute by writer Sadipan Deb.
Vinoo Mankad is almost forgotten today, but when he passed away in 1978, in its obituary, Wisden magazine called him “one of the greatest all-rounders that India has ever produced”, and stated that “for some years he was undoubtedly the best bowler of his type in the world”. He is also the only Indian cricketer to have a Test named after him—the 1952 Lord’s Test against England is referred to as Mankad’s Test, even though India lost—and a particular form of dismissal: Mankading.
His opening partnership of 413 with Pankaj Roy in 1956 remained a world record for 52 years, and his 231 in that innings stayed the highest score by an Indian in a Test match for nearly three decades. His 231 had broken his own previous record of the highest Test score by an Indian: 184!
At Madras, in 1952, when India beat England to achieve its first-ever Test victory, it was almost entirely Mankad’s doing, as he claimed eight for 55 and four for 53 in the two innings.
The same year, he became the fastest man in history to reach a double—scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in only 23 Tests, a record that would only be beaten 27 years later by Ian Botham.
In 2010, when espncricinfo.com assembled an eminent jury to select an all-time great India XI, only four cricketers were unanimous choices: Sunil Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Mankad.
In 44 Tests, Mankad (who is one of the few players in cricket history to have batted at all positions—from 1 to 11) scored 2,109 runs with five centuries and at an average of 31.47. As a left-arm spinner, he took 162 wickets, with eight five-wicket hauls, at an average of 32.32.
It is perhaps unfair to compare him with Kapil on all-rounder parameters, but it’s really too much of a temptation. Kapil played 131 Tests, scored 5,248 runs with eight centuries at an average of 31.05. He took 434 wickets with 23 five-wicket hauls, at an average of 29.64.
It is illogical both mathematically and in cricketing terms to extrapolate from Mankad’s figures. But if we did do so, we would find that had he played 131 Tests, he would have scored nearly 6,300 runs, with 15 centuries, and taken 483 wickets, with 24 five-wicket hauls. Of course, this would never have happened, if for nothing else, than that India played far less international cricket then, and Mankad lost nearly nine years of his career due to the Second World War.
In 1937-38, at the age of 20, he played five unofficial Tests against Lord Tennyson’s touring side. He headed both batting and bowling averages: with 62.66 and 14.53, respectively. An impressed Tennyson is reported to have said that Mankad would readily get a place in a World XI. Then came the war, and Mankad could play his first real Test for India again only in 1946 by which time he was already 29.
On that tour, he made 1,120 runs and took 129 wickets, which remains a record for any member of a side touring England.
In 1947-48, on the tour of Australia, he ran out Bill Brown as the latter backed up too far before the ball was bowled, and the term Mankading was born. The Australian media was furious: the spirit of cricket and all that. But it forgot to mention that Mankad had warned Brown once and told him that the next time he saw the batsman back up even before the bowler had reached the crease, he would run him out. However, in his autobiography Farewell To Cricket, Don Bradman wrote: “For the life of me, I can’t understand why (the press) questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered. If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage.”
Then came the Lord’s Test of 1952. In fact, it was the first first-class match Mankad was playing that season, so he was certainly short of practice. In the words of the great cricket writer John Woodcock: “Having scored 72 on the first day at Lord’s and then bowled 73 overs in England’s first innings, in which he took 5 for 196, Mankad went in again and made what at the time was India’s highest individual score in Test cricket—184 in just under five hours. By the time England won by eight wickets on the fifth morning, his bowling figures for the match were 97-36-231-5... No one else has ever been on the field for anything like as long in a match at Lord’s. Of the 24 hours 35 minutes for which the match lasted, he spent 18 hours 45 minutes in the middle.” Even in England’s second innings, when they had to only score 79 to win, Mankad didn’t give an inch. Of the 24 overs he bowled to the brilliant triumvirate of Len Hutton, Peter May and Denis Compton, 12 were maidens.
The British papers went to town with headlines like Marathon Mankad the Magnificent, and England vs Mankad Now, and writer after writer acclaimed him as the best all-rounder in the world, along with Keith Miller. Alex Bannister went a step further in The Daily Mail: “Keith Miller, acknowledged as the world’s top all-rounder, has never done as much in a single match as has Mankad in this Test.” In cricket lore, Lord’s 1952 will always be known as Mankad’s Test.
Mankad is hardly remembered today. In 2006, Virender Sehwag admitted in an interview that he had never heard of him, and evoked general consternation among ex-cricketers. Dilip Vengsarkar called it “nothing short of shocking”, and even suggested that the National Cricket Academy should introduce a theory paper which dealt with Indian and world cricketing history. “We would grade the players on the basis of what they knew. It helps inculcate a regard for history.”
Wisden obituary
Mulvantrai Mankad, affectionately known to cricketers throughout his life by his schoolboy nickname of Vinoo, died in Bombay on August 21, 1978, aged 61. He was one of the greatest allrounders that India has ever produced. In Tests he scored 2109 runs with an average of 31.47 and took 162 wickets at 32.31. He made five centuries and twice took eight wickets in an innings. Against New Zealand at Madras in 1955-56 he scored 231, and with P Roy put on 413 for the first wicket, a record for any Test. His average for that series was 105. When India gained their first victory over England, at Madras in 1952, his bowling was almost wholly responsible. On a wicket which gave him little assistance he took eight for 55 and four for 53. His most famous feat was against England at Lord's in 1952 when going in first he scored 72 and 184. In the second innings he went straight to the wicket after bowling 31 overs that day. In the whole match he bowled 97 overs and took five for 231. England won by eight wickets, but Mankad's performance must surely rank as the greatest ever done in a Test by a member of the losing side. Indeed in assessing his record one must remember that of the 44 Tests between 1946 and 1959 in which he played India won five only.
His first-class career started in 1935, but it was against Lord Tennyson's team in India in 1937-38 that he came into real prominence. With a batting average in the unofficial Tests of 62.66 and a bowling average of 14.53, he headed both averages, and Tennyson is reported to have said that he would already get a place in a World XI. In 1946 for India in England he made 1120 runs and took 129 wickets. He remains the only Indian ever to have accomplished this feat and no member of any touring side has achieved it since. In 1947 he went into League Cricket and, though he remained available in India during the winter, when they came to England in 1952, he was released for the Tests only. Indeed the Lord's Test was his first first-class match that season. He captained India in Pakistan in 1954-55. In his first-class career, which ended in 1962, he scored 11,480 runs with an average of 34.78 and took 774 wickets at 24.60.
As a batsman, he had great powers of concentration and a strong defence. His record stand with Roy lasted over eight hours and they were not separated till after lunch on the second day. At the same time, if a ball wanted hitting, he hit it. Many will remember how at Lord's in 1952 the match had barely been in progress half-an-hour when he hit Jenkins high over the screen at the Nursery End. He had a fine cover-drive and hit well to leg. Like many players of great natural ability he did not in attack worry overmuch about the straightness of his bat. In fact he was essentially a practical batsman who was prepared to go in cheerfully whenever his captain wanted and adapt his tactics to the state of the match.
As a bowler, he was a slow left-hander of the old-fashioned orthodox type, varying his natural legbreak with a faster one which came with his arm and got him lots of wickets. His figures in 1946 are the more creditable when one realises that for most of the tour he was suffering from an injury which made this ball tiring and difficult to bowl. As a boy he had experimented with the chinaman but was fortunately persuaded by that shrewd coach, Bert Wensley, to abandon it. For some years he was undoubtedly the best bowler of his type in the world.
Morally even Keith Miller or Jacques Kallis did not equal Mankad's herculean effort at Lords in 1952 when he scored 72 and 184 and took 5 wickets for 196 runs.In my view had Mankad played in the era of Imran.Botham,Kapil and Hadlee he may well have been the best of them all.Scale his figures in proportion of tests he played and the side he played for and Mankad may have joined Miller or Kallis.In my book I would declare a draw between Kapil Dev and Mankad and choose Vinoo Mankad in my all-time left handers world xi. I would also carve a place for Vinoo in the 100 all-time best cricketers.Mankad is the only member of the great all-rounders club who was an opening batsmen and he scored 2 double hundreds in that position.No all-rounder has batted and bowled for such a long duration in tests as Vinoo.Above all Mankad took artistry in bowling to it's supreme depth and in term sof pure batting concentration only Sobers and Kallis surpassed him amongst the all-rounders.He may not have had the flamboyance of a Botham or Kapil Dev with the bat bit could be the architect of a famous win by laying a foundation.In an all-time left-handers xi his guile would bemuse oposing right-handed greats and his batting would wear down great bowling attacks.No all-rounder ever was an equal of Mankad as a spin bowler.Vinoo encountered some of the finest opposition in his times.Remarkably he surpased even Tenduulkar's age when retiring and gave his career best performances at the ripe old age of 39.At his best Mankad may have surpassed Keith Miller and won a place in team on the strength of his batting and bowling alone.
Below is a tribute by writer Sadipan Deb.
Vinoo Mankad is almost forgotten today, but when he passed away in 1978, in its obituary, Wisden magazine called him “one of the greatest all-rounders that India has ever produced”, and stated that “for some years he was undoubtedly the best bowler of his type in the world”. He is also the only Indian cricketer to have a Test named after him—the 1952 Lord’s Test against England is referred to as Mankad’s Test, even though India lost—and a particular form of dismissal: Mankading.
His opening partnership of 413 with Pankaj Roy in 1956 remained a world record for 52 years, and his 231 in that innings stayed the highest score by an Indian in a Test match for nearly three decades. His 231 had broken his own previous record of the highest Test score by an Indian: 184!
At Madras, in 1952, when India beat England to achieve its first-ever Test victory, it was almost entirely Mankad’s doing, as he claimed eight for 55 and four for 53 in the two innings.
The same year, he became the fastest man in history to reach a double—scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in only 23 Tests, a record that would only be beaten 27 years later by Ian Botham.
In 2010, when espncricinfo.com assembled an eminent jury to select an all-time great India XI, only four cricketers were unanimous choices: Sunil Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Mankad.
In 44 Tests, Mankad (who is one of the few players in cricket history to have batted at all positions—from 1 to 11) scored 2,109 runs with five centuries and at an average of 31.47. As a left-arm spinner, he took 162 wickets, with eight five-wicket hauls, at an average of 32.32.
It is perhaps unfair to compare him with Kapil on all-rounder parameters, but it’s really too much of a temptation. Kapil played 131 Tests, scored 5,248 runs with eight centuries at an average of 31.05. He took 434 wickets with 23 five-wicket hauls, at an average of 29.64.
It is illogical both mathematically and in cricketing terms to extrapolate from Mankad’s figures. But if we did do so, we would find that had he played 131 Tests, he would have scored nearly 6,300 runs, with 15 centuries, and taken 483 wickets, with 24 five-wicket hauls. Of course, this would never have happened, if for nothing else, than that India played far less international cricket then, and Mankad lost nearly nine years of his career due to the Second World War.
In 1937-38, at the age of 20, he played five unofficial Tests against Lord Tennyson’s touring side. He headed both batting and bowling averages: with 62.66 and 14.53, respectively. An impressed Tennyson is reported to have said that Mankad would readily get a place in a World XI. Then came the war, and Mankad could play his first real Test for India again only in 1946 by which time he was already 29.
On that tour, he made 1,120 runs and took 129 wickets, which remains a record for any member of a side touring England.
In 1947-48, on the tour of Australia, he ran out Bill Brown as the latter backed up too far before the ball was bowled, and the term Mankading was born. The Australian media was furious: the spirit of cricket and all that. But it forgot to mention that Mankad had warned Brown once and told him that the next time he saw the batsman back up even before the bowler had reached the crease, he would run him out. However, in his autobiography Farewell To Cricket, Don Bradman wrote: “For the life of me, I can’t understand why (the press) questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered. If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage.”
Then came the Lord’s Test of 1952. In fact, it was the first first-class match Mankad was playing that season, so he was certainly short of practice. In the words of the great cricket writer John Woodcock: “Having scored 72 on the first day at Lord’s and then bowled 73 overs in England’s first innings, in which he took 5 for 196, Mankad went in again and made what at the time was India’s highest individual score in Test cricket—184 in just under five hours. By the time England won by eight wickets on the fifth morning, his bowling figures for the match were 97-36-231-5... No one else has ever been on the field for anything like as long in a match at Lord’s. Of the 24 hours 35 minutes for which the match lasted, he spent 18 hours 45 minutes in the middle.” Even in England’s second innings, when they had to only score 79 to win, Mankad didn’t give an inch. Of the 24 overs he bowled to the brilliant triumvirate of Len Hutton, Peter May and Denis Compton, 12 were maidens.
The British papers went to town with headlines like Marathon Mankad the Magnificent, and England vs Mankad Now, and writer after writer acclaimed him as the best all-rounder in the world, along with Keith Miller. Alex Bannister went a step further in The Daily Mail: “Keith Miller, acknowledged as the world’s top all-rounder, has never done as much in a single match as has Mankad in this Test.” In cricket lore, Lord’s 1952 will always be known as Mankad’s Test.
Mankad is hardly remembered today. In 2006, Virender Sehwag admitted in an interview that he had never heard of him, and evoked general consternation among ex-cricketers. Dilip Vengsarkar called it “nothing short of shocking”, and even suggested that the National Cricket Academy should introduce a theory paper which dealt with Indian and world cricketing history. “We would grade the players on the basis of what they knew. It helps inculcate a regard for history.”
Wisden obituary
Mulvantrai Mankad, affectionately known to cricketers throughout his life by his schoolboy nickname of Vinoo, died in Bombay on August 21, 1978, aged 61. He was one of the greatest allrounders that India has ever produced. In Tests he scored 2109 runs with an average of 31.47 and took 162 wickets at 32.31. He made five centuries and twice took eight wickets in an innings. Against New Zealand at Madras in 1955-56 he scored 231, and with P Roy put on 413 for the first wicket, a record for any Test. His average for that series was 105. When India gained their first victory over England, at Madras in 1952, his bowling was almost wholly responsible. On a wicket which gave him little assistance he took eight for 55 and four for 53. His most famous feat was against England at Lord's in 1952 when going in first he scored 72 and 184. In the second innings he went straight to the wicket after bowling 31 overs that day. In the whole match he bowled 97 overs and took five for 231. England won by eight wickets, but Mankad's performance must surely rank as the greatest ever done in a Test by a member of the losing side. Indeed in assessing his record one must remember that of the 44 Tests between 1946 and 1959 in which he played India won five only.
His first-class career started in 1935, but it was against Lord Tennyson's team in India in 1937-38 that he came into real prominence. With a batting average in the unofficial Tests of 62.66 and a bowling average of 14.53, he headed both averages, and Tennyson is reported to have said that he would already get a place in a World XI. In 1946 for India in England he made 1120 runs and took 129 wickets. He remains the only Indian ever to have accomplished this feat and no member of any touring side has achieved it since. In 1947 he went into League Cricket and, though he remained available in India during the winter, when they came to England in 1952, he was released for the Tests only. Indeed the Lord's Test was his first first-class match that season. He captained India in Pakistan in 1954-55. In his first-class career, which ended in 1962, he scored 11,480 runs with an average of 34.78 and took 774 wickets at 24.60.
As a batsman, he had great powers of concentration and a strong defence. His record stand with Roy lasted over eight hours and they were not separated till after lunch on the second day. At the same time, if a ball wanted hitting, he hit it. Many will remember how at Lord's in 1952 the match had barely been in progress half-an-hour when he hit Jenkins high over the screen at the Nursery End. He had a fine cover-drive and hit well to leg. Like many players of great natural ability he did not in attack worry overmuch about the straightness of his bat. In fact he was essentially a practical batsman who was prepared to go in cheerfully whenever his captain wanted and adapt his tactics to the state of the match.
As a bowler, he was a slow left-hander of the old-fashioned orthodox type, varying his natural legbreak with a faster one which came with his arm and got him lots of wickets. His figures in 1946 are the more creditable when one realises that for most of the tour he was suffering from an injury which made this ball tiring and difficult to bowl. As a boy he had experimented with the chinaman but was fortunately persuaded by that shrewd coach, Bert Wensley, to abandon it. For some years he was undoubtedly the best bowler of his type in the world.
