Name Hindi: वीनू मांकड़ / Gender Man
Vinoo Mankad – The Legend of Indian Cricket
Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad, an iconic figure in the history of Indian cricket, was born on April 12, 1917 and passed away on August 21, 1978. He was a cricketer from India who garnered acclaim for his exceptional all-round cricketing skills.
Early Life and Career
Born in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district, Mankad gained fascination with cricket at a relatively young age. With perseverance and dedication he honed his skills over time and made significant strides in the sport.
He began as a class spinner but quickly proved himself as a solid opening batsman. His game-enhancing statistics across various matches indicate the degree to which his tremendous hard work paid off.
International Career mainly with Test Matches
Vinoo Mankad made his debut in international cricket in England itself during India’s tour back in 1946. However, it was not until after this that he grabbed attention, especially for his phenomenal performance against England during India’s first-ever tour there post independence in 1952.
- While touring Australia in underdog status during the year 1947-48 season, Mankad smashed two centuries including one double century along with capturing many wickets giving a neck-and-neck fight to Don Bradman’s team.
- An unforgettable highlight involves him scoring an impressive 72 runs followed by an unbeatable bowling record of eight wickets for just 55 runs, leading to India’s win against England back when they toured Bombay (now Mumbai) in November-December of 1951-52 series.
- As opener in the Madras test of 1952 against England, Mankad scored a remarkable 133 runs in first innings and an additional 71 in second setting then world record opening partnership with P Roy (413 runs).
- Astonishingly enough, he also topscored for India in both the innings during Test at Manchester 1952 thereby defying all odds made India comfortable when conditions were tough.
The Mankading Controversy
Mankad was embroiled in a significant controversy due to the method by which he dismissed Australian player Bill Brown that became known as “Mankading”. In this dismissal, without any warning, Mankad removed the bails at his end while Brown was out of his crease post delivery stride. While it was within the laws of the game, created quite a debate among purists challenging sportsman spirit.
Legacy
Vinoo Mankad is rightfully remembered as one of the prominent figures who contributed immensely towards Indian cricket’s global reputation. His batting prowess, bowling talent and determination remain symbols of inspiration for generations to come. Moroever, his controversial ‘Mankading’ technique itself stresses upon adherence to rule-spirit balance in cricket that forms basis for various amendments time-to-time to keep control over condescending playing behaviour. This balances matched competitiveness with fair-play spirit rewarding ethos of cricket rightly called Gentleman’s Game.
_Information Source: Online Cricket Records Database & Writings_
