Former India captain and opener Datta Gaekwad died on 13th February 2024 due to age related ailments. He died at the age of 95 years, which was the highest living Indian cricketer. He is well known for solid defence.
He made his debut against England in 1952 and came to open for his team, which was his first time in that position since he didn’t ever open in the domestic matches. In the 2nd innings of that match he got out on zero and got his name among the 4 players who got out on zero.
His cricketing career was not so long as he played 11 matches and scored 350 runs in which he only hit a single half-century. His highest score was 52 runs which he scored against the West Indies.
But in first-class cricket he has some flowing runs to his name with the bat as he got 5788 runs in 110 matches in which he hit 17 centuries and 23 half-centuries. His highest score was 249 runs. In 1957-58 he captained Baroda in the Ranji Trophy and took his state as the champion for the very first time.
BCCI also paid him tribute through their social media handle.
The BCCI expresses its profound grief at the passing away of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former India captain and India’s oldest Test 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… pic.twitter.com/HSUArGrjDF
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 13, 2024
Gaekwad got the opportunity to lead the team in 1959 against England. In the five match series against England he played 4 matches but his team lost all the five matches. In that series he just scored 128 runs with an average of 16.00.
His son also played for India, Anshuman Gaekwad. He opened the innings for the team and played in both Tests and ODIs.