Kenia Jayantilal

A stockily built right handed opening batsman with a good defence and a penchant for the pull shot, Jayantilal went to the West Indies in 1971 as a reserve opening batsman. But with Gavaskar injured, he played in the first Test at Kingston and was out for five. That remained the only Test in his career but in the first class matches, Jayantilal was a success finishing fourth in the averages with 506 runs (56.22). He was less successful on the tour of England later that year.

Jayantilal made his way into the Indian team based on the strength of some fine performances around the domestic circuit. On his debut in the Ranji Trophy, he made 153 against Andhra in 1968-69. He was one of the stalwarts of the Hyderabad side for nearly two decades and finished with a tally of 2384 runs (41.10). (Partab Ramchand)