B. B. Nimbalkar
{{Short description|Indian cricketer (1919–2012)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = B. B. Nimbalkar
| image = Cricketer B. B. Nimbalkar giving autographs, c. May 1, 1946.jpg
| caption = B. B. Nimbalkar signing autographs in 1946
| country = India
| fullname = Bhausaheb Babasaheb Nimbalkar
| birth_date = 12 December 1919
| birth_place = Kolhapur, Bombay Presidency, British India
| death_date = 11 December 2012
(aged 92)
| death_place = Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
| family = R. B. Nimbalkar (brother),
S. B. Nimbalkar (son)
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm fast-medium
| role = Batsman
Occasional wicket-keeper
| club1 = Baroda
| year1 = 1939/40
| club2 = Maharashtra
| year2 = {{nowrap|1941/42–1950/51}}
| club3 = Holkar
| year3 = {{nowrap|1942/43–1957/58}}
| club4 = Madhya Bharat
| year4 = 1955/56
| club5 = Rajasthan
| year5 = {{nowrap|1956/57–1957/58}}
| club6 = Railways
| year6 = {{nowrap|1958/59–1963/64}}
| columns = 1
| column1 = FC
| matches1 = 80
| runs1 = 4,841
| top score1 = 443*
| bat avg1 = 47.93
| 100s/50s1 = 12/22
| deliveries1 = 4,038
| wickets1 = 58
| bowl avg1 = 40.22
| best bowling1 = 4/56
| fivefor1 = –
| tenfor1 = –
| catches/stumpings1 = 37/10
| date = 11 December
| year = 2012
| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/11/11455/11455.html CricketArchive {{subscription}}
}}
Bhausaheb Babasaheb Nimbalkar (12 December 1919 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian first-class cricketer who is remembered for his innings of 443 not out in the 1948–49 Ranji Trophy match between Maharashtra and Kathiawar. At the time, it was the second-highest score in the history of first-class cricket. It remains the Indian record and is also the highest score by a batsman who never played in Test cricket. Nimbalkar was a right-handed batsman whose career spanned the seasons from 1939/40 to 1963/64. He played for six first-class teams: Baroda, Maharashtra, Holkar, Madhya Bharat, Rajasthan, and Railways. He was an occasional wicket-keeper and a right-arm fast-medium bowler.
Early life
Nimbalkar was born in Kolhapur.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/11/11455/11455.html Bhausaheb Nimbalkar]. CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 December 2023. {{subscription}} He had his early education at the Model School in Kolhapur, and captained the school team at the age of 15.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
Career
=Debut=
Nimbalkar joined Baroda and, aged 19, made his first-class and Ranji Trophy debut on 18–20 November 1939 against Gujarat at Baroda's Police Gymkhana Ground.{{efn|name=fn1|Nimbalkar's debut at the Police Gymkhana was the only first-class match ever played on the ground.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/14/9375_f.html First-class matches played on the Police Gymkhana Ground, Baroda]. CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 December 2023. {{subscription}}}} Baroda won the match by 52 runs. They scored 127 and 166; Gujarat replied with 100 and 141. Batting in the lower middle order, Nimbalkar scored 6 and 27. He opened the bowling with Edulji Gai and took 3/16 and 1/36.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/17/17219.html Baroda v Gujarat, Ranji Trophy 1939/40 (West Zone)]. CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 December 2023. {{subscription}} His older brother, wicket-keeper Raosaheb Nimbalkar, was also playing that match and the two often appeared alongside each other.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/34/34187/34187.html Raosaheb Nimbalkar]. CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 December 2023. {{subscription}}
=Record score in India=
Nimbalkar moved to Maharashtra and played for them until 1950/51. During the 1948–49 Ranji Trophy, in the match against Kathiawar on the Poona Club Ground, Nimbalkar scored 443 not out.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/18/18737.html Maharashtra v Kathiawar, Ranji Trophy 1948/49 (1st Round)]. CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 December 2023. {{subscription}} At the time, Nimbalkar's innings was second only to Don Bradman's 452 not out (in 1929/30) as the world record for the highest individual innings in first-class cricket. Currently, the innings is the fourth-highest of all time, having been surpassed by those of Pakistani batting great Hanif Mohammad (499 in 1958/59) and the greatest West Indian Brian Lara (501* in 1994).
He was unable to break the record because, with the total standing at 826 for 4 at the lunch interval, the opposing captain, the Thakore Saheb of Rajkot, conceded the match to prevent embarrassment on the part of his team. Bradman sent a personal note to Nimbalkar saying that he considered Nimbalkar's innings better than his own.{{cite news| url=http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_first-indian-who-came-close-to-bradman-bb-nimbalkar-passes-away_1776384 | title=First Indian who came close to Bradman, BB Nimbalkar passes away | work = Daily News and Analysis| date=11 December 2012}}{{cite book |title=Ask Bearders |last=Frindall |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Frindall |year=2009 |publisher=BBC Books|isbn=978-1-84607-880-4 |page=81}}{{cite news | url=http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-news/bb-nimbalkar-passes/39641 | title=Babasaheb Nimbalkar passes away | publisher=Wisden India | date=11 December 2012 | access-date=12 December 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206084515/http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-news/bb-nimbalkar-passes/39641 | archive-date=6 February 2013 | url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/30199647/how-many-ipl-teams-won-lost-match-ten-wickets-same-season? |title=How many IPL teams have won and lost a match by ten wickets in the same season? |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=28 October 2020}}
=Summary=
Despite an impressive batting average of 56.72 in Ranji Trophy matches, and his additional abilities as a wicket-keeper and a fast-medium bowler, Nimbalkar never played Test cricket during a first-class career that stretched from 1939–40 to 1963–64. He was named the Indian Cricketer of the Year in 1952/53.
Later years and death
Between 1976/77 and 1982/83, Nimbalkar's son, Suryaji Nimbalkar, played in twelve first-class matches for Railways and Maharashtra.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/40/40140/40140.html Suryaji Nimbalkar]. Cricket Archive. Retrieved 19 December 2023. {{subscription}} Nimbalkar received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, the highest honour bestowed on a former player by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/ck-nayudu-award-for-kapil-dev/article5474173.ece |title=C. K. Nayudu award for Kapil Dev |newspaper=The Hindu |date=18 December 2013}} He died in Kolhapur on 11 December 2012, the day before his 93rd birthday.{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/former-ranji-cricketer-nimbalkar-dead/article4188918.ece |title=Former Ranji cricketer Nimbalkar dead |newspaper=The Hindu |date=12 December 2012}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cricinfo|ref=india/content/player/31839.html}}
- [http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/104466.html Nimbalkar recalls Bradman's 'personal message']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nimbalkar, B. B.}}
Category:20th-century Indian sportsmen
Category:Madhya Bharat cricketers
Category:Maharashtra cricketers
Category:Sportspeople from Kolhapur
Category:Central Zone cricketers