Travancore-Cochin cricket team explained

Travancore-Cochin cricket team
Founded:	1951
Last Match:	1957
Ground:	University Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
First Fc:	Mysore
First Fc Year:	1951
First Fc Venue:	Central College Ground, Bangalore
Title1:	Ranji Trophy
Title1wins:	0

The Travancore-Cochin cricket team represented the Indian state of Travancore-Cochin in the Ranji Trophy from 1951–52 to 1956–57.^[1] After the state was reorganised and expanded to form the new state of Kerala in 1956, the Travancore-Cochin team was superseded by the Kerala cricket team, beginning with the 1957–58 Ranji Trophy.

Playing record

Travancore-Cochin played seven Ranji Trophy matches in six seasons, losing five matches and drawing two.

1951–52

• Travancore-Cochin 150 and 85 lost to Mysore 322 by an innings and 87 runs. P. M. Anandan took 6 for 100 for Travancore-Cochin, which remained the team's best bowling figures.^[2] Ajjampur Krishnaswamy took 7 for 73 in the first innings for Mysore, which remained the best figures against Travancore-Cochin. All the Travancore-Cochin players except for M. Balan Pandit were making their first-class debuts.

1952–53

• Travancore-Cochin 86 and 86 lost to Mysore 220 by an innings and 48 runs. Anandan took 5 for 65.^[3]

This was Travancore-Cochin's first home game, and also the first first-class match at the University Stadium, Trivandrum, which was to become one of Kerala's main home grounds.^[4]

1953–54

• Travancore-Cochin 241 and 171 for 4 declared drew with Hyderabad 125 and 104 for 4. Anandan took 5 for 38, and in the first innings Pandit scored 106, which was Travancore-Cochin's first individual score of 50 or more, and remained the team's only century.^[5] There was no play on the second day owing to rain. With their first innings lead in a drawn match, Travancore-Cochin proceeded to the next round.
• Madras 275 and 336 for 5 declared defeated Travancore-Cochin 147 and 148 by 316 runs. Karsandas Bhatia took 5 for 56 in Madras's first innings before top-scoring in Travancore-Cochin's with 44.^[6]

1954–55

• Travancore-Cochin 247 and 141 for 6 drew with Madras 414 for 9 declared.^[7] A. G. Kripal Singh scored 208 for Madras, the highest score made against Travancore-Cochin. Pandit top-scored in each innings with 81 and 46.

This was the first first-class match at Maharaja College Ground, Ernakulam, where Kerala later played three times.

1955–56

• Andhra 462 for 9 declared defeated Travancore-Cochin 135 and 142 by an innings and 185 runs.^[8]

1956–57

• Travancore-Cochin 180 and 185 lost to Andhra 171 and 197 for 3 by seven wickets. Sandy Aaron, on his first-class debut, took 5 for 77 and 1 for 40 for Travancore-Cochin and, batting at number nine, top-scored in each innings with 29 not out and 40.^[9]

Leading players

See main article: article and List of Travancore-Cochin cricketers. P. M. Anandan was the most successful bowler. He played in all seven matches and took 24 wickets at an average of 24.62.^[10] Balan Pandit was the most successful batsman, with 404 runs at an average of 28.85 in the seven matches. He also kept wickets, taking 15 catches and a stumping.^[11] In 1959–60 he also set the record score for Kerala of 262 not out, which stood for 48 seasons.^[12]

Anandan's elder brother P. M. Raghavan captained the team in four matches, Anandan in two matches and Pandit in one.

Bibliography

• Book: L. N.. Mathur. The Encyclopaedia of Indian Cricket, 1965. 1966. Rajhans Prakashan. 1075795206.
• Book: Mihir. Bose. A History of Indian Cricket. 1990. Rupa & Company. 9780233985633.

External links

• Travancore-Cochin cricket team at CricketArchive
• First-class matches played by Travancore-Cochin at CricketArchive

Notes and References

1. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fwRFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aLcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5053%2C6760631 "Travancore-Cochin cricket association to be formed"
2. Web site: Mysore v Travancore-Cochin 1951–52. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
3. Web site: Travancore-Cochin v Mysore 1952–53. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
4. Web site: First-class matches played at the University Stadium, Trivandrum. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
5. Web site: Travancore-Cochin v Hyderabad 1953–54. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
6. Web site: Madras v Travancore-Cochin 1953–54. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
7. Web site: Madras v Travancore-Cochin 1953–54. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
8. Web site: Travancore-Cochin v Andhra 1955–56. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
9. Web site: Andhra v Travancore-Cochin 1956–57. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
10. Web site: First-class bowling for each tem by Ponnabeth Anandan. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
11. Web site: First-class batting and fielding for each tem by Balan Pandit. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.
12. Web site: Most runs in an innings for Kerala. CricketArchive. 30 October 2016.