Vijay Merchant - Legacy

Legacy

Although Vijay Merchant played only ten test matches, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest batmen of his era. He was an attractive stroke maker, who "developed fine footwork, and built a stroke repertoire featuring a lovely cut, grasscutting drives, a delicate glance and late-cut, and, until later in his career, a brilliant hook stroke." His batting average in first-class cricket was 71.64, putting him second only to Don Bradman of Australia. In India's domestic Ranji Trophy matches, he fared even better, averaging 98.75 in 47 innings. His record is especially impressive as his runs came at a time of uncovered wickets. Merchant was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1937. Vijay Merchant is also the oldest Indian player to score a test century (154 at an age of 40 years 21 days from India vs England match in 1951-52).