Gunwant Desai (born 30 January 1941) is an Indian former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Railways in India from 1968 to 1974.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 January 1941 Hariya, near Atul, Bombay Presidency, British India (now Gujarat, India) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Opening bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–69 to 1974–75 | Railways | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 28 March 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Desai was a highly effective opening bowler for Railways in the Ranji Trophy, averaging nearly five wickets a match at a very low bowling average and with a strike-rate of a wicket every 34.75 balls.[1] He took 12 wickets in the match (7 for 46 and 5 for 24) in the innings victory over Haryana in 1971–72.[2]
In 1974–75 Desai set a Railways record for match figures that still stands when he took 13 for 77 (8 for 54 and 5 for 23) in another innings victory, this time over Services.[3] He also made his highest score in the same match when, batting as usual at number 11, he made 29 of a tenth-wicket stand of 30.[4]
Desai was never selected to play for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He twice played in Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, each time against Rajasthan. The second time, in 1973–74, he felled the Test batsman Salim Durani with a bouncer, and Durani had to be taken to hospital for an operation and played no further part in the match. Rajasthan won narrowly on their first-innings lead. Railways were 241 for 9 when Desai went to the crease, needing 15 for the lead, but he was bowled for a duck.[5][6]
References
edit- ^ "Gunwant Desai". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Railways v Haryana 1971-72". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Best match bowling for Railways". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Railways v Services 1974-75". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ S. Giridhar and V. J. Raghunath, Mid-Wicket Tales: From Trumper to Tendulkar, SAGE Publications, Mumbai, 2014, p. 89.
- ^ "Railways v Rajasthan 1973-74". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
External links
edit- Gunwant Desai at ESPNcricinfo
- Gunwant Desai at CricketArchive (subscription required)