Morappakam Gopalan

Morappakam Gopalan Biography

The legendary Dhyan Chand wrote in his autobiography that he thought MJ Gopalan preferred hockey to cricket. Indeed, Gopalan was a part of Dhyan Chand’s Invincibles that won all 48 matches on the triple tours of Ceylon, Australia, and New Zealand, scoring 12.17 goals per match. Gopalan played 39 of these matches.

An obvious choice for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Gopalan chose to tour England for the ill-fated cricket tour instead. Marred by Vizzy’s despotism, the tour was not a high for India, and Gopalan returned without a Test. He missed out on an Olympic Gold Medal as a result.

However, he did play a Test, against England at Calcutta in 1933-34. He dismissed James Langridge, but did little else. In First-Class cricket, however, Gopalan claimed 194 wickets at 24 with his fast-medium bowling (he had an ominous leg-cutter), and scored 2,916 runs at 25.

Gopalan took his time to break through the ranks, making his first impact in 1931-32. Playing for Madras against Vizzy’s XI, he dismissed Jack Hobbs three times in three innings. The next season he took 4 wickets in 5 balls against Ceylon, hitting middle-stump every time.

He later bowled the first ball in the history of Ranji Trophy. A bundle of insatiable energy, Gopalan often played a cricket and a hockey match on the same day, and cycled his way to, and from, both matches.

He later served as a national selector, and was one of the backbones of Madras cricket in their early days. An annual contest between Madras and Ceylon was named after him.

Gopalan passed away at 94, though he said in an interview in 2001 that his birth certificate marks him three years younger than what he actually was; if that was indeed the case, that would have made him 97 at the time of his death.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Morappakam Gopalan Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Morappakam Gopalan Bowling Averages

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