ML Jaisimha passes away (7 July 1999)

7 July 1999

ML Jaisimha passes away

Anand Vasu

Former Indian test cricketer and dashing batsman ML Jaisimha passed away at his residence this afternoon. His untimely death was attributed to lung cancer. Jaisimha has been suffering from this ailment for some time now. Jaisimha is survived by his wife and two sons. He was 60.

A stylish batsman, Jaisimha opened the innings with flair, his flowing drives off the front foot being a partucular feature of his batting. Jaisimha made over 2000 runs in Test cricket, including three centuries. He made his Test debut against England in 1959 at the age of 20. Against England in the 1964 series, Jaisimha made his highest test score, an unforgettable 129 in the second innings. Jaisimha was also used as a part-time off break bowler.

While Jaisimha never captained India, he was a close aide of Wadekar, coming up with crucial advice at key moments. A famous instance of this was during the 2nd test at Trinidad versus the West Indies, when he reminded Wadekar of the ability of Salim Durrani as a bowler. This was at a stage when Prasanna was injured, and Wadekar was looking for bowling options. Durrani had not bowled in the first innings and yet picked up the key wickets of Sobers and Lloyd when introduced on Jaisimha's suggestion.

Jaisimha served Indian cricket as the manager of the national team, keeping up his close ties with the game. Over the years Jaisimha has been a source of great inspiration to many Hyderabad cricketers including Mohammad Azharuddin

CricInfo mourns the death of a flamboyant batsman and a colourful personality.