Dattu Phadkar

Dattu Phadkar Biography

Dattu Phadkar was one of the limited few quality pacers India had between World War II and the debut of Kapil Dev. Phadkar could move the ball both ways of a length, and was as accurate as they made them; if needed, he could also shift to off-breaks, and had seemingly inexhaustible stamina.

Additionally, he could hit the ball extremely hard. In many ways he was a predecessor of Kapil, though his bowling figures took a toll on the unhelpful Indian surfaces of the 1950s.

With 314 runs at 52 and 8 wickets at 32, Phadkar was one of few Indian stars on their Australia tour of 1947-48. He scored at least one fifty in each of the 4 Tests he played. At Adelaide he made a resounding 123.

His bowling skills came in forefront when West Indies toured India next winter, where he took 11 wickets from two innings. In an era when Vinoo Mankad, Subhash Gupte, and Ghulam Ahmed dominated the Indian attack, Phadkar provided often toiled hard, providing vital breakthroughs.

His other Test hundred came against England at Calcutta in 1951-52, a Test where he also claimed 4 wickets, but the more spectacular innings came at Headingley next season. After India were left reeling at 0 for 4 (and later 26 for 5), Phadkar walked out and took the attack to Fred Trueman and Alec Bedser, top-scoring with 64.

There were other iconic performances, like the 5 for 72 at Calcutta against Pakistan, and 5 for 64 at Kensington Oval, both in 1952-53. He played 31 Tests in all, scoring 1,229 runs at 32 and capturing 62 wickets at 37, though one cannot help but get the feeling that he was under-bowled. At First-Class level his 5,377 runs came at 36, while his 466 wickets went for 22 apiece.

Stylish and handsome, Phadkar was the heartthrob of the era. He was immensely popular among the fairer sex, but there is no known story of philandering.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Dattu Phadkar Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Dattu Phadkar Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--