Dilip Vengsarkar, born on April 6, 1956, was a right-hand batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler. This genius teenager, originating from, Rajapura, in Maharashtra, had represented India, Mumbai and Staffordshire, throughout his career.

His superb 110 for Mumbai, against the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match at Nagpur in 1975, lifted him at the helm of affairs. He was a Mumbai cricket player at the Ranji Trophy tournaments.

Vengsarkar`s innate assets caused his direct entry into the dream of any cricket player of India, the Indian cricket team.

Cricket Career of Dilip Vengsarkar
Vengsarkar`s international cricket debut was against New Zealand at Auckland in 1975-76. He played the role of the opening batsman. India had a big, confident win in this Test match. However, Dilip, tasted success a little later, and not in the very first match. He had to wait for the tour of Australia in 1977-78, to prove his mettle. And henceforth, the next 15 years he never looked back. . A man of tall and flexible stature, Vengsarkar, turned out to be a skilled striker, and a deadly batsman for the fiercest of bowling approaches.

His record partnership Test innings of 344 runs for the second wicket, with the outstanding Sunil Gavaskar against West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 1978-79, has definitely added a feather to his cap of self-celebration.

Over a long period, he ruled at the vital rank of No 3. His innings had many a times, welcomed prosperity and fame for India, over an entire decade. Starting from the late 70s till the late 80s, Vengsarkar remained seated on the high pedestals of success. During the 80s, the peak time of his career, he was just a step behind the topmost player of the world. Vengsarkar was a member of the Champion team of the 1983 World Cup.

At a time when the cricket world was tossed by the ferocious pacers of the West Indies cricket team, Dilip Vengsarkar , belonged to that dauntless breed of handful batsmen. He dared to score 6 centuries against the petrifying types of Marshall, Holding and Roberts.

In between, 1986 to 1988, he achieved eight brilliant hundreds in 16 Tests, and often in consecutive games. These centuries were reached against formidable rivals like Australia, England, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He was assessed the best batsman in the Coopers and Lybrand rating (a forerunner of the PWC ratings).

The crowning glory of Vengsarkar, is the towering three hundreds against England and that too, at the famous stadium of the Lord`s in 1986. A mind-blowing handler of the drive, Vengsarkar used to pull smoothly and hook, smartly.

His series-winning performance against England, acquired him the award of the Man of the Series. For Test matches played in India, he has one of the highest batting averages. Vengsarkar, had captained India, in ten Tests. He replaced the renowned captain-hero of the 1983 World Cup, Kapil Dev, after the 1987 World Cup. He began his captaincy with two promising centuries in his first series. However, he was removed from captainship, in 1989, for not being able to live up to the expectations. Post the disappointing expedition in West Indies, in 1889, he faded to the background.

He dropped for the time being, could not make an equally enchanting comeback, when he returned to the scenario in the early 90s.

In the time of his retirement in 1992, he was the holding the second position after the icon of perfection, Gavaskar in terms of runs and centuries scored in Tests.

Dilip Vengsarkar`s claim to prominence thus is deserved, since he has given cricket a tradition of glory, never to perished, in the times to come.

Cricket Statistics
Batting and Fielding Averages