SK Flashback: Remembering the life and times of Vijay Hazare on his birthday

Hazare’s walk into the evening of his career

Hazare bowled against Pakistan in 1952

Post captaincy, Hazare continued to do what he did best – pile up runs. He was at his dominant best when Pakistan came visiting India. An unbeaten 146-run knock emphasised his class and the fact that he scored that knock on a tough Brabourne wicket highlighted the importance of that knock.

A consistent batsman over the duration of his career till then, the ICC Rankings released in 1952 showed Vijay Hazare occupying the second position, just behind Englishman Len Hutton. However, captaincy returned to haunt Hazare in the West Indies tour of 1952-53 that marked the decline of his form.

While India exhibited an improved performance when compared to the tour of England, Hazare performed rather poorly, managing to score just one half-century from 10 matches that only urged his decision to retire from international cricket, a decision he took once they came back on to Indian soil after the West Indies tour.

After 30 Tests for India, Hazare had done enough, along with his incredible first-class stats, to place himself amongst the greats. In 30 Tests, he amassed 2,192 runs at an average of 47.65 added to his 20 wickets through his medium-pacers.