Dilip Vengsarkar was one of the finest batsmen of all time who represented India internationally. Born on this day in 1954, Vengsarkar 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 fixture at Nagpur in 1975. Noticing his immense potential, he was inducted into the national side making his debut against New Zealand at Auckland, in 1976. Nicknamed as ‘Colonel’, he went to play 116 Tests, scoring 6,868 runs with 17 centuries and 35 half-centuries. He also played in 129 ODIs, amassing 3,508 runs.
He also holds the record of being the first No. 1 batsman in the world, when the rankings system was introduced in 1987. He led the charts as the No. 1 Test batsman in the world and had an average of 64.46, higher than the likes of Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Gordon Greenidge and Sunil Gavaskar among others. As the legendary batsman celebrates his 65th birthday, here’s a look at memorable innings in the longest format of the game.
103 VS ENGLAND – 1979, LORD’S
