Vinoo Mankad

Mulvantrai Himmatlal "Vinoo" Mankad pronunciation  (12 April 1917 – 21 August 1978 Born in Jamnagar Gujarat) was an Indian cricketer who is best known for his world record setting opening partnership of 413 runs with Pankaj Roy in 1956, a record that stood for 52 years, and for running out a batsman "backing up" at the non-striker's end and the term Mankading in cricket is after his name.

"Mankad" redirects here. For the surname, see Mankad (surname).

Vinoo Mankad
Mankad on a 1996 stamp of India
Personal information
Full nameMulvantrai Himmatlal Mankad
Born(1917-04-12)12 April 1917
Jamnagar, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died21 August 1978(1978-08-21) (aged 61)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
BattingRight-handed
BowlingSlow left arm orthodox
RelationsAshok Mankad (son)
Atul Mankad (son)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 30)22 June 1946 v England
Last Test11 February 1959 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1935–1936Western India
1936–1942Nawanagar
1936–1946Hindus
1943–1944Maharashtra
1944–1951Gujarat
1948–1949Bengal
1950–1951Saurashtra
1951–1956Bombay
1956–1962Rajasthan
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 44 233
Runs scored 2,109 11,591
Batting average 31.47 34.70
100s/50s 5/6 26/52
Top score 231 231
Balls bowled 14,686 50,122
Wickets 162 782
Bowling average 32.32 24.53
5 wickets in innings 8 38
10 wickets in match 2 9
Best bowling 8/52 8/35
Catches/stumpings 33/– 190/–
Source: Cricinfo, 24 June 2009

Career

An opening batsman and slow left arm orthodox bowler, he played in 44 Tests for India, and made 2109 runs at an average of 31.47 including five Test centuries with a top score of 231. He also took 162 wickets at an average of 32.32, including eight five-wicket hauls. He is one of three cricketers to have batted in every position during his Test career.

His son Ashok Mankad also played Test cricket for India. Rahul Mankad, another son, played first-class cricket.

1946 England tour

Mankad was included in the India squad that toured England in 1946. Leading up to the First Test of the three-match series, he had played 11 first-class games on the tour averaging 20.9 with the bat and 14.2 with the ball, having picked 44 wickets, the best for India thus far as a bowler.[1] He made his debut at the Lord's opening the batting for India before being bowled out for 14 by England spinner Doug Wright.[2] After "long spells of bowling" in England's first innings, Mankad top-scored for his team with 67 in the second innings. India went on to lose the match by ten wickets. However, Wisden wrote in praise of Mankad calling him a "valuable all-round player" alongside teammates Lala Amarnath and Vijay Hazare.[3] Former England Test cricketer Patsy Hendren rated Mankad as India's "best all-rounder".[4] In the Second Test in Manchester, Mankad claimed a five-wicket haul in England's first innings.[5] He contributed 42 with the bat and picked two wickets in a drawn cause in the final Test at the Oval.[6] Mankad completed the tour with a double of a thousand runs and hundred wickets, the first tourist to achieve the feat since Learie Constantine of the West Indies in 1928.[7] He finished with 1,120 runs at 28.00 and 129 wickets at 20.76 apiece.[8] John Arlott wrote of him: "From his first over in England, Mankad was a good slow left-hander. By the end of the tour, there is little doubt that he was the best slow left-arm bowler in the world."[7] Wisden chose him as one of its five Cricketers of the Year.[9]

Australia tour

Mankad's 1947–48 Australia tour began on a positive note after he claimed a five-wicket haul in the first match in Western Australia's first innings.[10] He picked four wickets in the second game against South Australia including that of Don Bradman,[11] while making an unbeaten 116 with the bat.[12] Against Cricket Australia XI, he returned figures of 8/84 in the final innings helping his team win by 47 runs.[13] He had a poor start to the Test series, and was dismissed by Australia's pacer Ray Lindwall for 0 and 7 at Brisbane, and 5 and 5 at Sydney. Mankad subsequently modified his back-lift of the bat from high to low for the remainder of the series after being advised by Lindwall himself and went on to score centuries at the Third and Fifth Tests in Melbourne.[14] In reply to Australia's 394 in the Third Test, Mankad put on 124 runs for the first wicket with Chandu Sarwate, and reached his debut century in 139 minutes in the first innings.[15] After a first innings score of 49 in Adelaide,[14] Mankad scored 111 in the last Test in Melbourne, his making his second century of the series. Batting for five hours, he added 124 runs with Hemu Adhikari for the second wicket.[16] However, India went on to lose the match and the series, 4–0.[17] Mankad finished the tour with 889 first-class runs at 38.65 which included a total of three centuries, while claiming 61 wickets with the ball, the most for India.[18]

Later career

Mankad's best performance was against England at Lord's in 1952. In the first innings, he top-scored with 72. During England's first innings, he bowled 73 overs and took 5 wickets for 196 runs.[19] In India's second innings in that Test match, he top-scored again with 184 runs out of India's total of 378. Though England won the game easily, Mankad's all-around performance salvaged India's pride in a series where they were heavily outmatched. Mankad was the first player in more than 30 years to score a 100 and take five wickets in the same Test and the first Indian to achieve this feat. As such, he is one of only three non-England 'away' players whose names appear on both batting and bowling honours boards at Lords. (The other two are Keith Miller and Sir Gary Sobers).

Also memorable was his role earlier in the same year against England in Madras. He took 8/52 in England's first innings and 4/53 in the second helping India beat England for the first time in a Test match.

In 1956 he hit 231 against New Zealand at Chennai and together with Pankaj Roy established the world record opening partnership of 413 runs which stood for 52 years. His score was a Test record for India at the time and would remain so until it was broken in 1983 by Sunil Gavaskar.

Playing for Tonge in the Bolton Cricket League, Mankad picked up 54 wickets in the 1961 season, becoming the first player to claim more than 50 wickets in a season in the league.[20]

Controversy of Mankading

Mankad caused a major controversy in 1947/48 on India's tour of Australia when he ran out Bill Brown in the second Test. Mankad, bowling, paused during the delivery stride of his run-up and broke the wicket at the non-striker's end, whilst Brown was out of his crease backing up the striker in the accepted manner. He had done the same thing to Brown in the game against an Australian XI earlier on the tour, but his running out of Brown infuriated the Australian media, and running someone out in this way is now referred to around the world as "Mankading".[21] Although such an act is not an infringement of the laws of cricket, to some it is considered unsporting and against the spirit of the game.

However, famed cricketer Sir Don Bradman in his autobiography defended Mankad's action, saying:

For the life of me, I can't understand why [the press] questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered. If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage.

While perfectly legal, some contend that by convention, a bowler should at least warn a batsman who persists in backing up too far before dismissing him in that fashion. Mankad himself warned Brown before dismissing him in this fashion.[21] Courtney Walsh likewise received praise for warning rather than dismissing Saleem Jaffar, who was backing up during the 1987 World Cup.

Honour

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1973.[22]

A road named in honor of Mankad is situated just south of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

A Statue in his memory is present in his Birth town Jamnagar Gujarat.

References
  1. "First Test at Lord's". The Indian Express. 22 June 1946.
  2. "India Out For 200: England Lose 4 Wickets For 135". The Indian Express. 23 June 1946. p. 1.
  3. "First Test – Match Report". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  4. Hendren, Patsy (26 June 1946). "Mankad, Best All-rounder". The Indian Express. p. 5.
  5. "England All Out For 294 In Manchester test". The Indian Express. 23 July 1946. p. 5.
  6. "Third Test – Match Report". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  7. Dutta, Anindya (25 June 2018). "A dinner in 1946". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  8. Ramchand, Partab (1 August 2002). "Learning to crawl - 1946". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  9. Pandya, Haresh (12 April 2017). "India's rock of ages". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  10. "Indians Fare Well Under Adverse Conditions". The Indian Express. 21 October 1947. p. 3.
  11. "Hazare's Brilliant Innings Against S. Australia". The Indian Express. 26 October 1947. p. 3.
  12. "Mankad and Amarnath's Bid For Win Spoiled By Time". The Indian Express. 29 October 1947. p. 3.
  13. "India's Great Victory Over Australian XI". The Indian Express. 19 November 1947. p. 7.
  14. Viswanath, G. (24 January 2013). "Saurashtra's rich legacy". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  15. "Mankad 116: First Century In Tests". The Courier-Mail. 3 January 1948. p. 3.
  16. "India Fights Back With Splendid Determination In Test". The Indian Express. 10 February 1948. p. 7.
  17. "AUSTRALIA v INDIA 1947-48". Wisden. ESPNcricinfo.
  18. "When India prepared for an Australia tour with an 8-ball-over match". Cricket Country. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  19. "Lord's Honours Board: The Best Indian XI". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  20. "Mankad Takes 54 Wkts. For Season". The Indian Express. 17 July 1961. p. 10.
  21. Frindall, Bill (2009). Ask Bearders. BBC Books. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-1-84607-880-4.
  22. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.

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