Mankad Vinoo Image 1 Gujarat 1946

Description

An opening batsman and slow left arm orthodox bowler, Jamnagar, Bombay Presidency born Mulvantrai Himmatlal “Vinoo” Mankad made his first class debut for Western India in 1935-36, playing for Nawanagar from 1936 to 1942, and The Hindus from 1936 to 1946. He played for Maharashtra in 1943-44 and then for Gujarat from 1944 to 1951. It was while playing for Gujarat that he made his Test match debut for India on their 1946 tour of England, his debut coming that June at Lord’s, the first of 44 Tests for India through to his final Test against The West Indies in February 1959.

Mankad caused a major controversy in 1947-48 on India’s tour of Australia when he ran out Bill Brown in the Second Test at Sydney. Mankad, bowling, paused during the delivery stride of his run-up and broke the wicket at the non-striker’s end, whilst Brown was out of his crease backing up the striker in the accepted manner. He had done the same thing to Brown in the game against an Australian XI earlier on the tour. While perfectly legal, some contend that by convention, a bowler should at least warn a batsman who persists in backing up too far before dismissing him in that fashion. Mankad himself warned Brown before dismissing him in this fashion. But his running out of Brown infuriated the Australian media, and running someone out in this way is now referred to around the world as “Mankading”. Although such an act is not an infringement of the laws of cricket, to some it is considered unsporting and against the spirit of the game. However, Sir Don Bradman in his autobiography defended Mankad’s action, saying:

“For the life of me, I can’t understand why [the press] questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered. If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage.”

Mankad’s best Test performance was against England at Lord’s in 1952. In the first innings, he top scored with 72. During England’s first innings, he bowled 73 overs and took 5-196. In India’s second innings in that Test match, he top scored again with 184 out of India’s total of 378. Though England won the game easily, Mankad’s all-around performance salvaged India’s pride in a series where they were heavily outmatched. Mankad was the first player in more than 30 years to score a century and take five wickets in the same Test and the first Indian to achieve this feat. As such, he is one of only three non-England ‘away’ players whose names appear on both batting and bowling honours boards at Lords (the other two are Keith Miller and Sir Gary Sobers).

Also memorable was his role earlier in the same year against England in Madras. He took his Test best figures of 8-52 in England’s first innings and 4-53 in the second, helping India to beat England for the very first time in a Test match. In 1956 he hit a career best 231 against New Zealand at Chennai and together with Pankaj Roy established the world record opening partnership of 413 runs which stood for 52 years. His score was a Test record for India at the time and would remain so until it was broken in 1983 by Sunil Gavaskar. In Test matches Mankad made 2,109 runs at an average of 31.47, including five Test centuries and six half centuries, with a top score of 231. He also took 162 wickets at an average of 32.32, including eight five-wicket hauls. He is one of three cricketers to have batted in every position during his Test career.

Mankad played for Bengal in 1948-49, for Saurashtra in 1950-51, for Bombay from 1951 to 1956 and for Rajasthan from 1956 to 1962. Playing for Tonge in the Bolton Cricket League, Mankad picked up 54 wickets in the 1961 season, becoming the first player to claim more than 50 wickets in a season in the league.

In 233 first class matches, Mankad scored 11,591 runs at an average of 34.70 with 25 centuries and 52 half centuries. With his bowling he took 782 wickets at 24.53 apiece, with a best return of 8-35, taking five wickets in an innings 38 times and ten wickets in a match on 9 occasions. He also took 190 catches in first class play.

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1973. A road named in honour of Mankad is situated just south of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

His son Ashok Mankad also played Test cricket for India in the 1970’s. Rahul Mankad, another son, played first-class cricket.

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