Former first-class player, Vasant Raiji, who is the oldest living cricketer of India, completed his century on Sunday. Born on January 26, 1920, Raiji celebrated his 100th birthday.
On this special occasion, legendary cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh cut the birthday cake with Raiji at his residence.
“Wishing you a very special 100th birthday, Shri Vasant Raiji,” Tendulkar tweeted as a caption of the video where Raiji can be seen cutting the cake. “Steve & I had a wonderful time listening to some amazing cricket stories about the past. Thank you for passing on a treasure trove of memories about our beloved sport.”
Wishing you a very special 1⃣0⃣0⃣th birthday, Shri Vasant Raiji.
Steve & I had a wonderful time listening to some amazing cricket 🏏 stories about the past.
Thank you for passing on a treasure trove of memories about our beloved sport. pic.twitter.com/4zdoAcf8S3— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 26, 2020
Raiji played nine first-class matches in his decade long career and scored 277 runs at an average of 23. The right-hand batsman made his debut for the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and played against Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939. He made his debut for Bombay in 1941 under the great Vijay Merchant’s captaincy, shared the dressing room also with other legendary figures like Lala Amarnath, CK Nayudu, and Vijay Hazare.
After his retirement, Raiji joined his family business of chartered accountancy. But his love for the game never faded as he went on to write books on cricketers such as Victor Trumper, CK Nayudu, and LP Jai.
