Ghulam Ahmed

A right arm off spinner of the highest class, Ghulam Ahmed was a gentleman cricketer. He represented India for a decade and with Vinoo Mankad and Subash Gupte, formed the first great Indian spin trio. While he blended well with the other two, he was a fine bowler in his own right. Tall and slim, he bowled with an easy action and had good command over line and length. On good wickets, he was accurate enough to force the batsman to be watchful but even on a slightly helpful wicket, he could be almost unplayable. He proved this during the third Test against Australia at Calcutta in 1956 when he finished with ten wickets for 130 including seven for 49 in the first innings. He also played a leading role in shaping India's first Test victory at Chepauk in 1951-52. In England in 1952 he was the side's leading bowler taking 80 wickets in the first class games (average: 21.92) including 15 (24.73) of the 39 wickets that fell to Indian bowlers in the four Tests. He also toured Pakistan in 1954-55. An aggressive tail end batsman, he scored 50 at No 11 against Pakistan at New Delhi in 1952-53, adding with Hemu Adhikari a record 109 runs for the last wicket.

Ghulam also captained India three times, once against New Zealand in 1955-56 and twice against West Indies in 1958-59 which proved to be his last series. He was the bowling mainstay for Hyderabad for several years and captained the state for several years in the Ranji Trophy. At one time he held the record for the highest number of balls bowled in an innings in first class cricket - 555 against Holkar in 1950-51. In a two decade long first class career, Ghulam Ahmed took 407 wickets (22.57). Later he went into administration and was the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India from 1975 to 1980. (Partab Ramchand)