` HOW GOOD a cricketer was Colonel C. K. Nayudu?' ask many of the present generation who never watched him in action. ` C. K. Nayudu, the first Indian captain, is certainly still the tallest of Indian cricketers, despite the Merchants, Gavaskars and Tendulkars,' writes P. N. Sunderesan, the former editor of Indian Cricket, India's Wisden. S. K. Gurunathan, Sunderesan's predecessor, calls Nayudu the Father of Indian Cricket.

 Walter Hammond saw in him the grace of George Headley, and Douglas Jardine described him as a right-handed Woolley. S. P. Foenander, well-known writer from Sri Lanka, who travelled far and wide to watch cricket, thought that `as a stylist and fast scorer, Nayudu is comparable with artists like Charlie Macartney and Wally Hammond'.

There are different orders of greatness. Some achieve greatness by sheer consistency of performance, some by spreading loveliness and beauty as they move along their path of glory. The former are super-technocrats, the latter super-artists.

 Nayudu belonged to the second category. His greatness cannot be judged by statisticians. He has no place in computer rankings. Neville Cardus once called the scoreboard an ass. Had be been alive today perhaps he would have called the computer a jackass. You need the eye of a Cardus to appreciate the cricket of Nayudu.

In 1932, when Nayudu was playing in England with the first Indian team, some critics called him the Indian Bradman. Cardus objected: `He shows no resemblance to Australia's great and flawless and rather steely master. Nayudu is lithe and wristy and volatile. Bradman is sturdy and concentrated, he never suggests the elusive and poetic quality which is best called sensitivity. Nayudu is a very sensitive batsman; for each of his strokes you get the impression of a new-born energy, of a sudden improvisation of superb technique. Nayudu is not at all mechanical. Watching him from the ring you get a delicious suggestion in his play of fallibility. Unlike Bradman, his skill is his servant not his master. The glorious uncertainty of cricket is not endangered by Nayudu.'

The correspondent of the London Times echoed the same sentiment: ` Nayudu is tall, quick and loose in all his actions and with a beautiful swing of the bat produces strokes with unexpectedness which is exhilarating. He has apparently come to be known by some as Bradman of India but anyone less like Bradman is difficult to imagine. In fact he is Nayudu, and when he is batting that should be good enough for anyone.'

 Nayudu is the only Indian cricketer for whom the word `majestic' can be used without the fear of being accused of hero-worship or exaggeration. His walk to the wicket was like Hammond's, `regal, poetry of motion'. When as a captain he came out to field with his team following him, he looked every inch a commander leading his troops. Nayudu did not make a stroke or bowl a ball that was common or utilitarian. His every movement on the field was graceful.

As captain, Nayudu was an excellent strategist and his approach was always positive and aggressive. His record as a Test captain (purely in terms of winning) is not impressive. Though himself a strict disciplinarian, sadly Indian cricketers who played under him lacked discipline and played more as individuals than as a team. But he set right his captaincy record when leading Holkar, where he had the backing of the ruling prince. Between 1944–45 and 1952–53 Holkar figured in eight Ranji Trophy finals; four times they brought home the golden trophy.

In 1932, Nayudu, aged 37, became the first Indian cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's ( Indians v Middlesex). His performance during the English tour – 1618 runs, including 32 sixes, and 65 wickets – earned him a place in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year. About his captaincy Wisden wrote: `( Nayudu) showed himself admirably suited for the duties of leadership in what were, after all, rather difficult circumstances.'

In 1936 Nayudu made his second trip to England. He was by then 41, and though he began the tour well, he could not maintain his early form and ended the tour with a tally of 1102 runs and 42 wickets. At the Oval, in the last Test match of his career, Nayudu scored 81, his highest in Test cricket, after receiving a severe blow on the chest from an express delivery from Gubby Allen.

Like Test cricket, the Ranji Trophy tournament came late in Nayudu's life ( 1934–35, when he was 40). Nonetheless he performed admirably in the national championship, scoring 2567 runs and taking 109 wickets.

But it is in the Quadrangular (later Pentangular) matches that Nayudu dominated the Indian cricket scene with his dazzling performances. His 47 completed innings produced 2156 runs and he took 38 wickets.

 Nayudu exemplified the spirit of ageless youth. His first-class cricket career, which began in 1916, stretched to 1963, when he was 68. Nayudu is thus the only cricketer to have played in six decades. He was well over 50 when he scored a double-century in the Ranji Trophy ( Holkar v Baroda, 1945–46).

 India has produced many fine cricketers. But Nayudu was unique. He dwarfs everybody around him by his genius and personality. He typified the essence of Indian batting – style, grace and power. E. W. Swanton saw in him `the reputed wristy oriental magic of Ranji'.

Born in Nagpur on Oct 31, 1895, Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu died in Indore on Nov 14, 1967. He leaves behind unforgettable memories but not many records.

Memorial statue of Nayudu at his birthplace, Nagpur

LEFT: C. K. Nayudu (centre) talks with Bombay Governor Lord Brabourne and the Yuvraj of Patiala, who himself played a Test (scoring 24 and 60) against Douglas Jardine's 1933-34 England tourists

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