By Nelson Lewis - Bahrain

Bahrain, Nov 8: I am saddened to learn about the death of the great cricketer of yesteryears, namely Polly Umrigar, who was a very good batsman and a useful off spin bowler.

Umrigar was a very good cricketer and played in an era when India had hardly any good batsmen, not a single fast or fast-medium bowler and fielding standards were far below than what they are today.  Polly Umrigar was the first India to score a double century in a test match.

However, the batting brilliance of this cricketer will hardly be recognised because very few test matches were played those days and he was playing for the Indian team that was weak and opposition fast bowlers used to dominate them.  However, in case of Polly Umrigar, he has played some sparkling innings especially against the opposition quickies and scored 12 centuries and 14 half centuries.  His batting average 42.22 in tests and 52.28 in first class matches.

He had played 59 tests in all (and there were no one day matches those days) and he was called a mercenary for having played so many tests – a figure that would sound very comical today, when quite a number of cricketers play about 100 tests and 200 one day matches during their careers.  In his death, the Indian and world cricket has lost a great cricketer and sportsman.