CD Gopinath obituary: Indian cricketer and selector

Chingleput Gopinath had the unenviable task of playing against “Fiery” Fred Trueman in his first Test match in England. Cricketers from the subcontinent had had little experience of facing raw and quick opening bowling by 1952. The coltish Yorkshireman was making his debut on his home ground of Headingley and, with the seasoned Alec Bedser, took India’s first four second-innings wickets without conceding a run, an unprecedented occurrence in the game’s history.

Batsmen of that period were often referred to by their initials and “CD” continued to be known as such throughout his life. Short of runs on the tour before this match, he was yorked by Trueman for a duck. He did at least make eight runs in India’s second innings, but it was a trying time for him and his country after he had made a successful start to his Test career against England in 1950-51, scoring an unbeaten half century and 42 on his debut in Bombay.

Gopinath also took part in what was India’s first Test victory. In the fifth match of the 1951-52 series, at his home ground of Madras, he went in down the order, as he did throughout his international career, and contributed 35 to a first-innings total of 457 for nine declared. His most telling contribution came in the field when he held a straightforward catch to dismiss Brian Statham that led to a memorable triumph, albeit over a weakened England side. He kept the match ball as a souvenir.

He was one of the leading run-scorers in first-class cricket in India and, after the 1952 tour of England, was named in the party to travel to the West Indies in 1952–53 but dropped out due to business commitments and his feeling that he had not been well treated by the captain, Vijay Hazare, in England. He fared well on India’s tour of Pakistan in 1954-55, averaging 58.33 in all first-class matches, although in his two Test appearances he made only 49 runs. Brought back against Australia at Calcutta in 1959-60, he top-scored with 39 in the first innings. That was his eighth Test and proved to be his swansong. Ultimately he would make a bigger impact as a national selector and tour manager.

Indian cricket was riven by cliques at the time. Gopinath was born and grew up in the south of India, which was where the leading spin bowlers customarily were nurtured, whereas batsmen in that era tended to come from the west of the country. He was chosen for the 1952 tour to provide selectorial balance. In 1979, when he managed India, he favoured as captain Srinivas Venkataraghavan, who like him was from Madras, over Sunil Gavaskar, an exceptional run-scorer from Bombay but who had flirted with joining Kerry Packer’s unofficial and outlawed series. “CD was an intriguer who knew which side to back,” said Mihir Bose, the Indian cricket writer and historian.

Chingleput Doraikannu Gopinath was the son of CP Doraikannu, a prominent financier who became chief accounting officer at the Imperial Bank of India, and his wife, Hamsammal. CP would take CD on extensive journeys to explore agricultural sites and visit jungle camps in south India when he was not being educated at Holy Angels Convent School and, although a Hindu, at Madras Christian College, or showing an initial preference for tennis ahead of cricket.

Gopinath did not take to cricket until he was 17. Even so, he made his first-class debut, as an amateur, for Madras against Mysore two seasons later, in 1949–50. Dismissed without scoring in both innings, he was soon batting with a marked elegance, not least against touring Commonwealth XIs, and occasionally bowling medium pace. He became captain of his state and made 2,349 Ranji Trophy runs at the fine average of 51.06 by the time he retired in 1962-63 owing to business commitments. His highest score was 234 against Mysore in 1958-59. In his eight Tests from 1950–51 to 1959–60 he made 242 runs at an average of 22, including one half-century, and took one wicket.

He became the first Indian chairman of Gordon Woodroffe, a British firm, pioneering shipping and containerisation in India. He became sheriff of Madras and served as a cricket selector from 1968-69 to 1976-77, the last five years as chairman, and lived with his wife, Comala, a former champion golfer, in a house in Coonoor in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu called “The Cover Drive” — although the square cut had been his favourite shot. He is survived by a daughter, Kamini Sundaram.

Gopinath retained his enthusiasm for tennis and nature and also fished and played golf and was a keen photographer. When he was 93 he became India’s oldest surviving cricketer. In old age he would reminisce about the taking of a catch in his day simply being acknowledged with mere “well taken” remarks from team-mates and contrast that with the exuberant hugs and celebrations of the modern game. He highlighted hardships, recalling that on his tour of Pakistan he and his fellow tourists were far from pampered.

At one stage there was no hotel available and so sportsmen representing their country and preparing to play international cricket were billeted in a train in the sidings. “I am convinced that the life of every individual is preordained,” said Gopinath. “No one can change his life from what is already set for him and no amount of effort can change whatever is preordained for him.”

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