Dilip Doshi's demise came as a shock to the cricketing fraternity, which lost not just a brilliant cricketer but also a dear friend. His character was a blend of wisdom, grace, and understated authority. On Monday, Doshi passed away at 77 following a cardiac arrest. He left behind an indelible legacy and a lifetime of memories. A true gentleman, he never hesitated to make time to guide young players.
A left-arm spinner with a classical action, Doshi was relentlessly accurate, consistently bowling tight lines without giving batters the slightest room. His bowling was a synthesis of articulate control and intelligence, creating a perfect blend of flight and turn. Doshi had already established himself as a prominent left-arm spinner in English county cricket before he represented India. In another era, he might have played 100 Tests. Unfortunately, like Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar before him, he spent a significant part of his career in the shadow of Bishan Singh Bedi. To his good fortune, he finally got his chance when Bedi retired.
Personifying intelligence and patience, Doshi could be impactful even on the most placid tracks. On his day, he tormented the best of batsmen. He made his Test debut in 1979-80 at the age of 32, and over the next three years, he was a dominant force, taking 100 wickets in just 28 Tests.
Regardless of the opposition or the stage, Doshi always gave more than 100 percent. His dedication never wavered, and he never showed signs of relaxing on the field. Making an international debut at 32 was a formidable task, especially in an era without fitness consultants, when global cricketing standards were rapidly rising. Yet, he managed to capture an impressive 114 Test wickets.
The numbers speak for themselves. His tally of 898 first-class wickets is testimony to his class. He was close to Sir Garfield Sobers, from whom he learned a few tricks and who helped him play as a professional in England. In Tests, Doshi claimed 114 wickets in 33 appearances, including six five-wicket hauls. He represented Bengal and Saurashtra domestically and played county cricket for Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. This experience enriched his understanding of modern cricket.
Despite debuting late and facing repeated exclusions from the Indian squad, teammates fondly remembered Doshi as a “thinking man’s cricketer.” “If one can be fit and focused without bitterness, one can achieve anything,” he once said. He was an epitome of composure, rarely displaying emotion on the field. Even when Pakistan’s Javed Miandad tried to taunt or sledge him, Doshi remained unfazed and coolly went about his job.
In his post-retirement life, he ventured into the corporate world and famously introduced Mont Blanc pens to India in the 1990s. He moved in elite circles—Mick Jagger, Sir Garfield Sobers, and Zaheer Abbas were part of his social sphere—yet he led a simple life. Whenever he was in India, he would quietly visit his hometown Rajkot to watch domestic matches at the Niranjan Shah Stadium. “This gives me immense satisfaction,” he once told me during a Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between Saurashtra and Punjab.
His warmth and charisma drew people to him. Sachin Tendulkar recalled their first meeting in England in 1990, when Doshi, already retired, bowled to him in the nets. “He was really fond of me, and I reciprocated his feelings. A warm-hearted soul like Dilip-bhai will be deeply missed. I will miss those cricketing conversations we invariably had,” Tendulkar wrote on social media.
The cricket fraternity will long remember his five-wicket haul in the 1981 Melbourne Test—achieved while playing with a broken toe. “I’d apply electrodes every evening to manage the swelling,” he once told me. “It was a crucial game—I couldn’t miss it.” He also cherished his friendship with Mick Jagger; they watched matches together, including the recent World Test Championship final. Just last Saturday, Doshi reminisced about watching it with “Mick” and praised Temba Bavuma’s captaincy.
While watching India’s first Test against England in Leeds, he commented, “I’m quite impressed with the way Shubman (Gill) and (Rishabh) Pant batted.” He lauded the centurions, saying, “This might be a young team, but it has enough firepower…”
Doshi was a key figure in India’s home series wins against Australia and Pakistan in 1979-80, and against England in 1981-82. He also played a pivotal role in India’s first-ever drawn series on Australian soil in 1980-81. Against Australia, he took 27 wickets in six Tests, confounding their batsmen with his guile. Even Pakistan, with its star-studded batting line-up, was mesmerised in Mumbai, where Doshi took six wickets. He had Zaheer Abbas completely at bay. In 1981-82 at Mumbai, he triggered a dramatic England middle-order collapse, reducing them from 95 for 1 to 166 with figures of 5 for 39. He exploited uneven bounce with surgical precision.
In the fifth Test at Madras and the final one at Kanpur, Doshi excelled on unhelpful tracks, taking four wickets in each innings—performances reminiscent of digging a well in a desert. He was central to India’s miraculous 59-run win at the MCG in 1980-81, bowling 72 overs and taking five wickets. Amidst stalwarts like Kapil Dev, Shivlal Yadav, and Karsan Ghavri, Doshi stood out. His dismissals of Kim Hughes and Graeme Wood—stumped after being deceived in flight—were gems of spin bowling.
His career-best 6 for 102 came at Old Trafford in the second Test against England in June 1982. It remains one of the finest exhibitions of spin bowling, where Doshi extracted turn and bounce from a flat track using trajectory, flight, and control.
During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Doshi gave a long interview on the art of spin bowling, published in Sportstar’s digital edition. That issue also featured Bishan Singh Bedi. “It’s not for nothing that Bishan is a legend. He’s spoken so well…” Doshi had said.
His autobiography Spin Punch, written by a friend’s father, remains one of the most compelling cricket memoirs ever published.
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*Freelance journalist
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