Better late than never: Top 5 oldest cricketers to represent India

Representing the Indian cricket team is a very prestigious thing and everyone who plays this game passionately has dreamt of achieving the same. It takes years and years of ‘hard work’ and ‘comebacks from the setbacks’ to reach the international level and hence not everyone succeeds in achieving it. 

We have seen players like Sachin Tendulkar and Jemimah Rodrigues, who got their maiden India call at a very young age. On the other hand, there are players like Surya Kumar Yadav as well, who patiently waited for their maiden call for many years. Hence, it’s one’s own path, one’s own journey, that provides them with the chance to play for India. 

Today, in this article by ZAP Cricket, we discuss Top 5 oldest players who debuted for India and interestingly, none of them is a modern day cricketer!

RD Jamshedji- 41Y 27D

Rustomji Jamshedji was an Indian cricketer who played only one Test for the country. He was a right handed batsman and a slow left arm orthodox bowler. He took three wickets and scored 4 runs in the single Test he played. However, his record in domestic cricket was stellar as he took 134 wickets in just 29 matches! His performance was quite convincing and that earned him his maiden international cap at the age of 41. 

Jamshedji hitting shots
Credit: IndiaNetzone

C Ramaswami- 40Y 39D 

Cotah Ramaswami made his debut for the Indian Cricket Team when he was 40 years old. He was a left handed batsman and a right arm bowler who played 2 Test matches for the country, scoring 170 runs with his best score being 60. He was born in Madras and played domestic cricket for them. He has represented India in tennis as well and that makes him one of the four Indian cricketing double internationals, others being, S.M. Hadi, M.J. Gopalan and Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Ramaswami in his batting stance
Credit: ESPNcricinfo 

Amir Elahi- 39Y 102D

Amir Elahi was a right handed batsman and a right arm break bowler who played Test cricket for both India and Pakistan. He played a single Test for India against Australia in 1946 and then he played 5 matches for Pakistan. He had massive experience in First class cricket as well, as he played 125 matches, scoring 2,562 runs and taking 513 wickets. However, he made his international debut quite late, when he was 39 years old.

Amir Elahi’s photo
Credit:ESPNcricinfo 

KK Tarapore- 37Y 329D

Tarapore was a right handed batsman and a slow left arm orthodox bowler who featured in a single International Test match and 40 First class matches. After retiring as a player, he managed the Indian Team and even served as secretary of Cricket Club of India. Kapil Dev highly regarded Tarapore and even mentioned how the senior motivated him to bowl fast. 

Photo of former India player
Credit:ESPNcricinfo 

SN Banerjee- 37Y 124D

Sarobindu Nath Banarjee made his Test debut at 37 years of age and played an official match for the country. He was a right arm medium pace bowler who had vast experience in First class cricket. He played 138 matches for Bengal, scored 3000+ runs and took 300+ wickets. His stock delivery moved into the batsman. Predominantly, he was a tail ender batsman, but occasionally, he batted up the order as well.

Cover drive by Banarjee
Credit: ESPNcricinfo 

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