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C.D. Gopinath, Last Survivor of India’s First Test Win, Dies at 96

Official tributes frame his death as the end of a living link to India’s early Test era.

Overview

  • The former India batter died in Chennai on Thursday at his daughter’s home in Adyar, with local reports saying he passed in his sleep.
  • He was the last player alive from the XI that beat England in Madras in 1952, scoring 35 and catching Brian Statham to help seal India’s first Test victory.
  • ESPNcricinfo records list eight Tests, 242 Test runs, and 4,259 first-class runs for India and Madras, and he was India’s oldest Test cricketer at the time of his death.
  • Following his passing, 95-year-old Chandrakant Patankar is now India’s oldest living Test cricketer.
  • Beyond playing, he captained Madras to the 1954–55 Ranji Trophy title with a century in the final and later served as national selector, selection chief, and India’s manager on the 1979 England tour.