He burst upon the scene as a talented teenager when he scored a breezy
110 for Bombay against the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match at
Nagpur in 1975, in the process taking a heavy toll of Bedi and Prasanna,
then at their peak. On his immense potential, he was straightaway inducted
into the Indian team but success was rather slow in coming. It was not
until the tour of Australia in 1977-78 that Dilip Vengsarkar established
himself in the side and for the next 15 years he was one of the batting
bulwarks. Tall and slimly built, Vengsarkar was basically an elegant
strokeplayer but on his day - which was often - he could be a tormentor
of even the strongest attacks. He was India's No 3 for many years and
from that pivotal position guided the fortunes of the country's batting
for more than a decade.
From the late 70s to the late 80s, Vengsarkar was among the best batsmen
in the country and, during a purple patch in the 80s, he was very nearly
the leading player in the world. From 1986 to 1988, in 16 Tests, he
scored eight hundreds. Vengsarkar's best known feat of course is being
the first to score three hundreds against England at Lord's. A superb
player of the drive, Vengsarkar could also pull effortlessly and hook
fearlessly. With Sunil Gavaskar he holds the Indian record for the second
wicket in Tests - 344 unbroken against West Indies at Calcutta in 1978-79.
He led the country in ten Tests, but lost the captaincy in 1989 following
a controversial tour to the USA to play some festival matches. He lost
his place in the side temporarily and though brought back for a few
games in the early 90s he was never really the same commanding player.
At the time of his retirement in 1992, he was second only to Gavaskar
in runs and centuries scored in Tests. He now runs the Elf cricket academy
in Mumbai.
Full name
Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar
Born
April 6, 1956, Rajapur, Maharashtra
Major teams
India, Mumbai, Staffordshire
Batting style
Right-hand bat
Bowling style
Right-arm medium
Career statistics
Test debut
New Zealand v India at Auckland - Jan 24-28, 1976
Last Test
Australia v India at Perth - Feb 1-5, 1992
ODI debut
New Zealand v India at Christchurch - Feb 21, 1976
He burst upon the scene as a talented teenager when he scored a breezy
110 for Bombay against the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match at
Nagpur in 1975, in the process taking a heavy toll of Bedi and Prasanna,
then at their peak. On his immense potential, he was straightaway inducted
into the Indian team but success was rather slow in coming. It was not
until the tour of Australia in 1977-78 that Dilip Vengsarkar established
himself in the side and for the next 15 years he was one of the batting
bulwarks. Tall and slimly built, Vengsarkar was basically an elegant
strokeplayer but on his day - which was often - he could be a tormentor
of even the strongest attacks. He was India's No 3 for many years and
from that pivotal position guided the fortunes of the country's batting
for more than a decade.