India's oldest Test cricketer CD Gopinath dies at 96

CD Gopinath, who played eight Tests for India between 1951 and 1960, passed away in his sleep at his daughter's residence in the Adyar neighbourhood of Chennai. He was 96.

Gopinath was the last surviving member of the Indian squad that beat England by an innings and eight runs at Chepauk in February 1952, a result that gave the country its first Test victory in two decades of international cricket. He scored 35 in that match and held the catch off Brian Statham's edge to complete the win, a moment he recalled with characteristic modesty for the rest of his life.

A career shaped by Chepauk

Born in Chennai on 1 March 1930, Gopinath came through the Madras domestic system and earned his Test debut during the 1951-52 series against England at the Brabourne Stadium. He scored an unbeaten 50 in the first innings of that match, his highest Test score, and followed it with 42 in the second innings.

Across eight Tests and 12 innings he made 242 runs at an average of 22, including that half-century on debut. His domestic record was considerably stronger: 4,259 runs in 83 first-class matches at an average of 42, with nine centuries. He captained Madras for several seasons in the mid-1950s and early 1960s before stepping away from active cricket.

Life after playing

Gopinath stayed close to the game long after he hung up his pads. He served as a national selector in the 1970s, rose to chairman of the selection committee, and later managed the Indian team on their 1979 tour of England. Those who worked alongside him in those roles spoke of a man who understood the game deeply and never felt the need to raise his voice to make his point.

The BCCI paid tribute on Thursday evening. President Mithun Manhas said Gopinath "represented an era when Indian cricket was beginning to establish itself on the international stage" and praised his contributions both as a player and an administrator.

A link to cricket's origins in India

Following Gopinath's death, 95-year-old Chandrakant Patankar, who played one Test against New Zealand at Eden Gardens in 1956, becomes India's oldest living Test cricketer. Globally, Australia's Neil Harvey, now 97, remains the oldest surviving men's Test player.

Gopinath belonged to a generation of cricketers who laid the foundations for everything that followed. Vinoo Mankad took 12 wickets in that 1952 Chepauk Test. Polly Umrigar and Pankaj Roy scored centuries. India declared at 457 for nine and bowled England out twice. For the first time, Indian cricket had proved it could compete at the highest level on its own soil.

That all of those players are now gone, and that Gopinath was the last to go, gives the moment a weight beyond the bare numbers.

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