Vijay Laxman Manjrekar was an Indian cricketer who played well in both domestic and international level cricket. He played 55 test matches for Indian National cricket Team. He was a small man capable of doing fine cut and hook with the ball. He was popularly known as the fine cutter and hooker. He was the right handed batsman and right arm off-break bowler.
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar was born on 26 September 1931 in Bombay (Mumbai). He was hailed from western zone. He was the father of Sanjay Manjrekar, one of the most formidable players in modern times of Indian cricket before Azahar-ud-ddin.
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar made his debut cricket match against England at Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1951 (Eden Gardens Stadium). He made a composed 48 runs against England Cricket Team.
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar scored his first test hundred in June 1952 against England at Headingley making 133. It was his first international test in England. At that time, he was just 20. When he came in to bat his side was in trouble at 3/42 and faced a formidable line-up of bowlers in Trueman, Bedser and Laker.
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar put on 222 runs with Hazare in an innings that showed he would be a force to be reckoned with in the future. He would however fail to fulfil his early promise and faced problems with his weight and footwork. He would eventually finish with a Test average of 39, a disappointment for a man capable of averaging well into the 40`s.
The finest test series of Vijay Laxman Manjrekar came against England Cricket Team in India 1961 to 1962 when he made 586 runs at an average of 83.71. This included the highest score of his seven centuries, with 189 at Delhi.
There are another notable performance was in 1964 to 1965 where his innings of 59 and 39 helped India to a Test victory over Australia. Vijay Laxman Manjrekar scored a ton in his final test innings, coming against New Zealand International Cricket Team at Madras (Chennai) in February 1965. Vijay Laxman Manjrekar holds the records for the most test runs scored (3,208) without hitting a single six. Vijay Laxman Manjrekar was also an occasional off-spinner and occasional wicketkeeper.
Batting Averages
|
Mat |
Inns |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
100 |
50 |
6s |
Ct |
St |
| Tests |
55 |
92 |
10 |
3208 |
189* |
39.12 |
7 |
15 |
0 |
19 |
2 |
| First-class |
198 |
295 |
38 |
12832 |
283 |
49.92 |
38 |
56 |
|
72 |
6 |
Bowling Averages
|
Mat |
Inns |
Balls |
Runs |
Wkts |
BBI |
BBM |
Ave |
Econ |
SR |
4w |
5w |
10 |
| Tests |
55 |
6 |
204 |
44 |
1 |
1/16 |
1/16 |
|
1 |
204 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| First-class |
198 |
|
1411 |
657 |
20 |
4/21 |
|
33 |
3 |
70.5 |
|
0 |
0 |
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar played for 6 sides in the
Ranji Trophy, representing Bombay Cricket Team, Bengal Cricket Team,
Uttar Pradesh Cricket Team,
Rajasthan Cricket Team,
Andhra Pradesh Cricket Team, and
Maharashtra Cricket Team. Vijay Laxman Manjrekar had a prolific career in the competition, with a scoring 3,734 runs at an average of 57.44.
Vijay Laxman Manjrekar died at the age of 52 in Madras (Chennai) on 18th October 1983.
