Former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni, best known for bowling a record 21 successive maiden overs in a Test match died at 86 on Friday. Nadkarni is survived by his wife and two daughters.
“He died of old-age related problems,” his son-in-law Vijay Khare was quoted as saying by PTI.
Nadkarni, a left-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox bowler, played 41 Tests where he scored 1,414 runs and grabbed 88 wickets with 6/43 being his best bowling figures. Nadkarni was a Mumbai stalwart having played 191 first-class matches, where he took 500 wickets and scored 8,880 runs.
The Nashik-born Nadkarni made his Test debut against New Zealand in Delhi in 1955 and played his last Test at Auckland against the same opponent in 1968 under MAK Pataudi’s captaincy.
However, he rose to frame after he bowled 21 successive maidens. His figures in that Madras Test read 32-27-5-0. He was known for his accuracy. In the 1960-’61 series against Pakistan, he returned with figures of 32-24-23-0 at Kanpur followed by 34-24-24-1 in Delhi.
