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First Indian who came close to Bradman, BB Nimbalkar passes away

BB Nimbalkar, who had — in 1948 — come within nine runs of The Don’s world record first-class score of 452, dies a day short of his 93rd birthday in Kolhapur.

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His Highness Thakore Saheb Shri Pradyumansinhji Lakhajirajsinhji (1913-1973), the 14th Thakore Saheb of Rajkot (1940-73), was a benevolent ruler who generously promoted cricket, so much so that he even got foreign coaches to train the Kathiawar team. But the biggest disservice he did to Indian cricket, so to speak, was deny Bhausaheb Babasaheb Nimbalkar the golden opportunity of breaking Sir Donald Bradman’s record for the highest score in first-class cricket.
Nimbalkar, one of the best Indian batsmen not to have played Test cricket — his peak years coincided with World War II — breathed his last at his Kolhapur home on Tuesday. He would have turned 93 on Wednesday.
Circa 1948. Maharashtra were hosting Kathiawar in a four-day Ranji Trophy match at the Poona Club. The visitors were bowled out for 238 and Maharashtra ended Day One on 132/1 with Nimbalkar on 24. The right-hander Nimbalkar, then 29, scored a staggering 277 the next day to take his tally to 301. Day Three started with Maharashtra on 587/2. Nimbalkar lost two more partners (KV Bhandarkar for 205 and SD Deodhar for 93), but he continued to milk the Kathiawar bowlers. He crossed the 400-run mark and headed towards Bradman’s 452, the world record! He was on 443 when the players took tea. And that’s when the king played a rather cheap trick. The scoreboard read 826/4 and he decided to concede the match! Poor Nimbalkar was stranded nine short of The Don’s score.
Years later, Nimbalkar revealed that Bradman had sent him a personal message. “I still remember he ranked my innings above his own, such was his greatness. Even though he had the world record and I had only the record in India, he still rated my innings better than his.”
For the record, Nimbalkar had batted for 494 minutes and had hit 49 fours and a six. And had the king not chickened out, Maharashtra could have eclipsed the 912 — the highest total in Ranji Trophy — posted by Holkar four years earlier.
Madhav Mantri, India’s oldest-living Test cricketer at 91, fondly remembers Nimbalkar. “He was a very fine cricketer, an all-rounder who also good opened the bowling. I can assure you that had he been playing in today’s day and age, he would have walked into the Indian team,” Mantri, who is Sunil Gavaskar’s maternal uncle, told DNA.
“To score 400-plus in an innings requires stamina. It’s not a joke. The poor guy lost his best years from 1939 to 1946 because of the War. He deserved to play for India but never got a chance. Look at players like Sunil (Gavaskar) and Sachin (Tendulkar). They were spotted early and given the chance. But Nimbalkar never had any ill-feelings for anyone. He was a thorough gentleman and he never showed any pride that he was the record holder. We played a lot of cricket together. He was a beautiful stroke player, a fast scorer and beautiful to watch. Maharashtra was a weak team then. They seldom made it past the first or second round of Ranji Trophy. But Nimbalkar towered over his teammates,” Mantri recalled.
True! Nimbalkar scored 4,841 runs in 80 first-class matches. He averaged 48, scored 12 hundreds and 22 fifties. This country has produced many a batting great, but Nimbalkar’s 443* is still the highest first-class score by an Indian, and fourth overall after Brian Lara’s 501* (Warwickshire vs Durham at Birmingham in 1994), Hanif Mohammad’s 499 (Karachi vs Bahawalpur at Karachi in 1958-59) and Bradman’s 452* (New South Wales vs Queensland in 1929-30).
“It would be a very special day when I die,” Nimbalkar had told this paper on his 90th birthday, in 2009. The cheerful man was very fond of kids and would often watch youngsters practice at the Sahu Maharaj Stadium in Kolhapur. “They are the future of this gentleman’s game,” he would say. Nimbalkar was a staunch disciplinarian. “Discipline is one thing many of us forget especially during crises,” he had said during a function.
Nimbalkar had four sons but his biggest regret was that only one of them — Suraji Nimbalkar — played the game. Suraji represented Maharashtra and Railways.

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