Laxmidas Purshottamdas Jai pronunciationⓘ (1 April 1902 – 29 January 1968) was a major figure in Indian cricket between the wars.[2]
Jai was born in a Gujarati family in Bombay.[3][4] Jai was a graceful right-handed stroke-player. Most of his finer innings came in the Bombay Quadrangular competition. He captained Bombay to the title in the first-ever Ranji Trophy championship.
Because of the Hindu Gymkhana's opposition in protest against the jailing of Indian political leaders, Jai along with Vijay Merchant and Champak Mehta were unavailable for trial matches to select the Indian team that tours England in 1932.[5] The tour included India's first ever Test match. His only Test was the first ever in India. He toured England in 1936 but a broken finger restricted his appearances.
He was a selector in the 1950s, before resigning over a dispute during the 1958/59 series against West Indies. The trophy awarded to the scorer of the fastest hundred in Ranji trophy every season was named after him.
Career
As was the case with cricketers prior to commercial sponsorships, Jai was employed by the Imperial Bank of India, later State Bank of India, by way of a job for life. This helped to nurture his hobby, philately. He became an eminent philatelist, being in a position to "rescue" every stamped envelope that came to the bank every day. He specialised in British Empire stamps.
Jai died on 29 January 1968 in Bombay from cardiac arrest.[1]
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