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India’s oldest cricketer and former captain Dattajirao Gaekwad died on Tuesday due to age-related ailments.
Gaekwad, father of former India opener and national selector Aunshuman Gaekwad, was 95 years old.
He breathed his last early this morning after fighting for his life in the ICU of a Baroda hospital for the last 12 days, a family source told PTI.
“The BCCI expresses its deep sorrow over the demise of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former Indian captain and India’s oldest cricketer. He played in 11 Tests and led the team during India’s tour of England in 1959. Under his captaincy, Baroda also won the Ranji Trophy in the 1957-58 season, beating Services in the final. The Board expresses its deepest condolences to the family, friends and admirers of Gaekwad,” the BCCI wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) in a tribute.
He played 11 Tests for India between 1952 and 1961, and captained the national team in 1959 when it toured England.
The right-hander made his debut against England in Leeds in 1952 and his last international match was against Pakistan in Chennai in 1961.
In the Ranji Trophy, Gaekwad represented Baroda from 1947 to 1961. He scored 3139 runs at an average of 47.56, including 14 hundreds.
His highest was an unplayed 249 against Maharashtra in the 1959-60 season.
He became India’s oldest living Test cricketer in 2016 after the death of former batsman Deepak Shodhan at the age of 87 in Ahmedabad.