Sad fate of BB Nimbalkar

Last month we had discussed the sacrifice and the magnanimity of three Indian cricketers who belonged to royal families. Today we shall have a close at another one belonging to the other extreme.

The small territory of Kathiawar based in the western part of India in the Gujarat peninsula had a ruler whose heart was as small as the land he governed. He was known as the Takore Sahab of Rajkot, Pradumansinhji.

Kathiawar was included among the teams for the Ranji Trophy championship in the season 1948-49. The Kathiawar cricket team travelled to Poona to play against the might of Maharashtra at the Poona Gymkhana ground, which was well-known to be an ideal surface for batsmen. Bowlers rarely got any assistance from the pitch.

Winning the toss, the Kathiawar captain Pradumansinhji decided to take the first strike. Kathiawar scored a decent total of 236, which included a dashing 77 by the skipper.

When Maharashtra came to bat one could feel the difference in strength and strategy between the two teams. While the Kathiawaris appeared disoriented and the leadership hesitant, Maharashtra adopted the no-nonsense approach as exemplified by their mentor-captain-guru combined, Prof Deodhar.

The two openers, MR Rege and Kamal Bhandarkar attacked from the beginning and raced to 81 when Rege left. Now, the prolific Ranji Trophy run-getter BB Nimbalkar appeared on the scene with his trademark handkerchief around his neck.

Bhandarkar and Nimbalkar added a record score of 455 runs for the 2^nd wicket in just 300 minutes. After Bhandarkar (205) left, Bhao Sahab Nimbalkar continued with his judicious stroke-play. When Nimbalkar’s individual score had reached 443, the Kathiawar captain decided that they would concede the match!

Nimbalkar was on 443 just 9 runs short of Don Bradman’s the then world record of 452. It was a most unsportsmanlike decision on the part of the Kathiawar captain, Pradumansinhji, who happened to be a distant relative of Ranjitsinhji.

Nimbalkar was denied a world record by his own countryman. It appears that so enamoured was Pradumansinhji by the supposed ‘superiority’ of white-skinned people that he did not want a fellow Indian to overhaul the white man’s achievement.

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