On 2 April 1933 Ranjitsinhji — Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, England Test cricketer, leg-glance pioneer and the most famous Indian-born sportsman of his generation — died at Jamnagar at the age of 60. His death prompted a global cricket obituary and gave the Ranji Trophy, founded the next year, its name.
Ranjitsinhji had been retired from Test cricket for three decades but remained the public face of Indian cricket for English audiences. C.B. Fry, his contemporary and friend, was among the public mourners.
Ranjitsinhji had played his last Test match in 1902 but remained one of cricket's emblematic figures into the 1930s. After his return to India and elevation as Jam Sahib of Nawanagar in 1907, he became a princely patron of Indian cricket, a sometime League of Nations representative for India and the most-photographed Indian sportsman of the early century.
His health had declined over the previous winter; he died of heart failure in early April. The London Times printed a near full-page obituary; The Cricketer carried tributes from Pelham Warner, C.B. Fry and Archie MacLaren. Wisden's 1934 edition carried a special memorial.
The BCCI, casting around for a name for the new national first-class trophy then in planning, settled on 'The Ranji Trophy' in his honour at the December 1934 founding. The competition began in 1934-35 with Bombay champions of its first edition.
Health declines through winter 1932-33.
Dies at Jamnagar, 2 April 1933, aged 60.
Times publishes near full-page obituary.
Wisden 1934 carries memorial.
BCCI names new national trophy 'Ranji Trophy' in his honour.
1872
Born Sarodar, India.
1896
Test debut for England, Old Trafford.
1907
Becomes Jam Sahib of Nawanagar.
2 Apr 1933
Dies at Jamnagar, aged 60.
Nov 1934
Ranji Trophy launched.
“He was, with W.G., the most extraordinary cricketer the game has known.”
His nephew Duleepsinhji, also a Sussex and England batsman, retired from cricket within two years for unrelated health reasons; the Duleep Trophy is named for him. The Ranji Trophy launched in November 1934.
The death of cricket's first Indian-born superstar; an obituary that bridged the late Victorian and the modern game.
Ranjitsinhji is the figure through whom inter-war Indian cricket connected to its English past. Every history of Indian cricket places him at the head of its lineage; the trophy that bears his name remains the country's principal first-class prize.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.