Former Delhi cricketer passes away

New Delhi: Former Delhi cricketer Rajeshwar Prasad Thapliyal has passed away after a brief illness.

He was 68 years old. He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter. A leg-spiner of his era, Rajeshwar was one of the best school cricketers Delhi has ever produced. He was the member of Delhi Ranji team for two seasons 1962-64 and 1963-64. Rajeshwar, who passed away yesterday evening, was also the captain of Delhi state school team and North Zone School team from 1963 to 1965. Former Test Cricketer Mohinder Amarnath had also played under his captaincy in the prestigious Cooch Behar Trophy Cricket championship in North Zone team. In 1962-63, he was declared the best bowler of All India schools by the BCCI. In that particular Cooch Behar Trophy season he had taken a record 41 wickets in just four matches. In one match he took a record 16 wickets (9 and 7) against Northern Punjab team. Rajeshwar was duly rewarded for his phenomenal bowling by the Indian board as he was selected for the All India Schools cricket team to tour Ceylone (now Sri Lanka) for the tri-series that included Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Rajeshwar, who represented State Bank of India for more than two decades as an all-rounder, also represented Delhi University team in 1966 in All India Inter-University Cricket tournament. PTI