ON THIS DAY
Follow UsOne of the oldest cricket-playing nations, India has seen numerous gems over the last few decades whose achievements are oblivious to modern cricket fans. One such name is Bapu Nadkarni, a former left-arm spinner for India who is counted among the most economical bowlers ever to play Test cricket.
As with most players of his era, Bapu Nadkarni also believed in patience and perseverance, two qualities that were very much evident in his bowling and batting. The legend goes that the man from Nasik would place a coin on a good length and practice precision for hours in the nets. Consequently, he developed a bowling that left batsmen to either defend his deliveries or score little runs off them.
Making his debut on December 16, 1955, Nadkarni showcased his talent from the very first game as he ended wicketless but with an economy of 2.44 across 54 overs. His entire career could very well be reflected upon this outing as he retired with just 88 wickets in 41 matches but with an economy rate of 1.67.
Nadkarni’s first eye-catching outing came on January 1, 1969, when he ended with a six-wicket haul against Australia at the Brabourne Cricket Stadium. While Nadkarni did occasionally add wickets to his arsenal of length bowling, it was his insane number of maiden overs that fetched wickets for his compatriots.
The best exhibition of it came against England on January 12, 1964, when England were playing India in Chennai. The slower and less bouncy turf was right in Nadkarni’s alley as he remained essentially unplayable by England batsmen, which had the likes of Mike Smith, Ken Barrington, Don Wilson and more.
India had posted a steep total of 457 runs in the first innings, banking on centuries from Budhi Kunderan (192) and Vijay Manjrekar (108) and needed to slow England’s scoring rate as much as possible. In came Bapu Nadkarni who bowled a whopping 21 consecutive maiden overs, a record that stands unbroken even after 60 years.
He ended up conceding just five runs in 32 overs, 27 of which were maidens. Chandu Borde benefited the most from Nadkarni’s economic bowling and the visitors tried going after him and gave away five wickets in the process. England were wrapped up for 317 in the first innings, with Nadkarni conceding less than a run per over. The left-arm spinner ended the drawn Test with an economy of one and two wickets to his name in the second innings.
The closest a bowler has come to breaking Nadkarni’s record was Ravindra Jadeja, another left-arm bowler, who bowled 17 consecutive maidens against South Africa in 2015.
Apart from his bowling, Nadkarni was a handy batsman as well. Four matches since his Chennai heroics, Nadkarni slammed 52 and 122 against England in Kanpur, with an archaic crouch stance like a boxer who wouldn’t budge no matter what.
Nadkarni retired from cricket in 1968 with familiar bowling figures against New Zealand in Auckland, where he would concede 17 runs, take two wickets and bowl seven maidens in his 12 overs.
