Dilip Doshi obituary: cerebral Indian cricketer

Times

3 days ago

Spectacles gleaming in the sun, not a hair out of place and his whites fitting perfectly, Dilip Doshi cut a courtly figure in the Test cricket arena of the late Seventies and early Eighties.
His was a scholarly approach, quietly probing away for hours with craft and patience. He had shown the latter quality in abundance. Bishan Bedi was well established as India's premier left-arm spinner for most of the Seventies, while India's other frontline slow bowlers, Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, were also ahead of Doshi in the queue.
Doshi was nearly 32 when finally chosen to make his Test debut for India in a home series against Australia in late 1979. He took his chance with six for 103 in the first innings in a drawn match at Madras (now Chennai) and continued to bamboozle the Australians for the rest of the series with variations of flight and pace of which Bedi would have been proud. He took four for 92 at his home ground of Calcutta and in the final Test in Bombay (now Mumbai) he took eight wickets in the match as India sealed a 2-0 series victory.
He rated his five-wicket haul against Australia at Melbourne in 1981, which helped India square the series, as his best spell of bowling for his country. He lured batsmen into injudicious shots, finding the outside edge of their bats to give catches to wicketkeeper or slip fielder. Doshi played that match with a broken toe and after each day's play applied electrodes to it to bring down the swelling. In all, he bowled 74 overs without putting pressure on his left foot.
On his way to playing 33 Test matches in four years, another standout performance was his five wickets for 39 runs against England in Bombay in November 1981. In all, he took 36 wickets against England at a highly creditable average of 27.55 and became only the second cricketer (the first being the great Australian leg spinner Clarrie Grimmett) to take 100 Test wickets when making his debut aged over 30.
Never a big spinner of the ball, Doshi was far less threatening on English pitches, but his metronomic accuracy made him hard to score against. He would hold up an end while the Indian quick Kapil Dev wheeled away at the other. Called on to bowl more than 80 overs in a match, Doshi would limber up his fingers by kneading a squash ball for hours on end 'without letting the ball enter the palm area'.
His usefulness was attested by the fact that he was by some accounts one of the worst batsmen in the history of Test cricket with an average of 4.6. Indeed, he played all his Test innings at No 11 and when his fielding was mentioned it was generally agreed that the less said the better. A man who owned his strengths and weaknesses, Doshi did not disagree.
Dilip Rasiklal Doshi was born in Rajkot, Gujarat, in 1947 the eldest of four children to Rasikbhai Doshi, a business executive who traded in mining and engineering equipment, and Sorajini Ben.
Dilip was educated at JJ Ajmera High School and St Xavier's College, both in Calcutta (Now Kolkata). He studied law at the city's university and from the late Sixties played for Bengal and represented East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
Featuring regularly for Nottinghamshire in 1977 and 1978, he took 157 wickets in 44 first class games. During a Test match at Trent Bridge between England and Australia in 1977, Doshi forged a firm friendship with the cricket-loving Rolling Stone Mick Jagger.
Doshi went on to represent Warwickshire in 1980-81 and played his part as the county established itself as a force in one-day cricket, winning the John Player League in 1980. He continued to be selected for India despite his reputation for being something of a 'barrack-room lawyer' as well as a qualified one, annoying the captain Sunil Gavaskar and the India team management with his outspoken comments. When he was finally dropped in 1983 to make way for Maninder Singh, Doshi was philosophical, and grateful to have played as much as he had.
In 33 Tests he took 114 wickets at an average of 30.71. Many claimed that India would not have as good a left-arm spinner again until Ravindra Jadeja, who is playing against England in the current Test series.
Doshi retired as a player in 1986. In later years he became an agent for Mont Blanc luxury pens. After being given one by his father as a present, he helped to establish the brand in India, where 16 Mont Blanc boutiques would be opened.
He is survived by his wife Khalindi, his son Nayan, also a slow left armer who played cricket for Surrey and Derbyshire, and their daughter Vishaka.
Despite his mild manner, Doshi continued to hold strong opinions about the game. Yet he remained a popular figure and was recently seen at the World Test Championship final at Lord's. The former Indian cricketer, manager and commentator Ravi Shastri called him a 'gentleman to the core'. Sachin Tendulkar called him a 'warm-hearted soul' and said he would miss their cricketing conversations.
Doshi had stood for a cerebral approach to cricket, but admitted to putting such principles on hold as he danced away at Rolling Stones concerts.
Dilip Doshi, cricketer, was born on December 22, 1947. He died of a cardiac arrest on June 23, 2025, aged 77