India’s oldest Test cricketer CD Gopinath passes away at the age of 96

Indias oldest living Test cricketer CD Gopinath died at the age of 96 here on Thursday ending the last human link to the nations first Testwinning team Gopinath who was the second oldest cricketer in the world after Australian legend Neil Harvey 97 is survived by his wife children and grandchildren Following his demise Mumbais 95yearold Chandrakant Patankar has become the countrys oldest cricketerHe played one Test against New Zealand in 1955 In the death of Gopinath India has lost not just its oldest living Test cricketer but also the last personal link to a glorious chapter in the countrys rich cricketing history Four years back Gopinath had a twinkle in his eye while recounting Indias firstever Test triumph an innings and eightrun win over England at Chepauk in 1952See Thats the benefit of a long life You can keep adding and rewriting the story Everyone will give me the ages benefit but you know the benefit of doubt always goes to the batsman doesnt it he had quipped Even at 92 then Gopinath remained a brilliant raconteur who would narrate amusing stories about his brief eightTest stint in India whites Of course the brightest of them would be about those four glorious days in erstwhile Madras now ChennaiIn the statisticians book Gopinaths numbers will always remain modest eight Tests that yielded 242 runs with one fifty But typically of him Gopinath never felt bitter about a short career that started on a promising note with a 50 and 42 against England at the Brabourne in 1951 However a rather modest subsequent trip to England later in 1952 had its own unpleasant ramifications keeping him more out of the team than inBut Gopinath remained a significant figure in domestic cricket scoring heavily and captaining Madras often He ended up with 4259 runs from 83 matches at an average of 42 He also tallied nine hundreds A notable moment in his career came when he made a brilliant strokefilled 175 in the second innings while visiting New Zealand for South ZoneFriends from Kiwi landThe Kiwis had some fine players in the ranks such as Bert Sutcliffe John Reid John Alabaster and Parke Zinzan Harris father of former NZ allrounder Chris Harris Even though South lost the match Gopinaths innings earned him a lot of admirers from among the Antipodeans Reid and Sutcliffe later met me in the dressing room and we had a good chat about the game then The competition lasted only till the last ball of the day after that we just wanted to get to know each other a little bit better and share some good time he had saidA prized friends list featuring Sir WorrellGopinaths friends circle had four glittering names former West Indian skipper Sir Frank Worrell England batter Denis Compton and the Australian fast bowling pair Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller His collection of memorabilia included a signed Australian Baggy Green by Lindwall However his friendship with Worrell the Windies captain in the firstever tied Test against Australia at Brisbane in 1960 was a special oneGopinath attended the charity match for Worrell conducted by county side Lancashire and it was the Indian cricketer who collected money from the spectators Before that he met the great West Indian at Colombo and shared a rickshaw ride around the city after 10pm Later Worrell visited Gopinaths house for dinner during a visit to Chennai and it was among his very few last public appearances before passing away It left Gopinath a shattered man at that timeUnearthing GRVAfter his playing days Gopinath served as chief of national selectors and the manager of the Indian team that toured England in 1979 The tour became famous for Indias daring chase of 438 under the guidance of Sunil Gavaskars monumental 221 But India could only make 429 for eight as the Oval Test ended in a drawThe match always had a special place in Gopinaths memory and he would never be short of words while revering about Gavaskars technical purity However Gopinath equally adored GR Viswanath whom he played a significant part in discovering for his technique against fast bowling The Tamil Nadu man always cherished GRVs legendary innings of unbeaten 97 in which he tackled a ferocious spell by West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts 764It helped India post a 100run win over the Caribbeans on a bouncy Chepauk wicket Gopinath was also a part of Tamil Nadus Madras firstever Ranji Trophy win and following his death only one cricketer who played in that season remains alive the now USbased MK MurugeshBut Gopinath was not a man happy to live in nostalgia He keenly followed contemporary cricket and took a liking for IPL and the Chennai Super KingsEverything changes with the team cricket is not exception Gopinath would say and he remained an ardent Mahendra Singh Dhoni fanI pick CSK mainly because of MSD not because of his cricketing brain but because of how he plays He does not go strutting around the field jumping 10 feet high He does not make obscene gestures It makes me very uncomfortable when I see some of that Gopinath said last year during a CSK functionThe words carried the essence of Gopinath a keenly competitive cricketer on the field and a thorough gentleman off itThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever