Charlotte: Former India left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi, who carved out a niche for himself despite being in the shadows of Bishan Singh Bedi, died due to cardiac arrest in London on Monday, the Saurashtra Cricket Association said.
He was 77 and is survived by his wife Kalindi, son Nayan, who has also played first-class cricket, and daughter Vishakha.
Doshi made his Test debut in 1979 after Bedi’s retirement and played last of his 33 games in 1983. In those matches, he took 114 wickets with six five-wicket hauls and was exceptional at home during the first three seasons, completing 100 scalps in just 28 Tests.
His finest hour was getting five wickets in India’s
Test win at the MCG in 1981 when the visitors defended
a paltry target.
Doshi bowled with a fractured toe and was literally unplayable on an up-and-down MCG track. Doshi, Karsan Ghavri and the peerless Kapil Dev won that game for India.
He was also a stalwart in English county circuit having plied his trade for more than a decade there. He represented Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire.
“Dilip’s passing away is a personal loss to me. He was like a family. He was one of the finest human beings,” former BCCI secretary
Niranjan Shah said.
In the Indian domestic circuit, he played for Bengal and Saurashtra. In all he had a staggering 898 first-class scalps with 43 five-fors. He was Bengal’s go-to man in Ranji Trophy for years and was fondly called as ‘Dilip Da’.