Mehli Irani

Irani was a left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper.[2] He captained the St. Xavier's College cricket team,[3] and later played club cricket for Bombay Gymkhana and Parsee Cyclists.[2][3] At Bombay Gymkhana, Irani played alongside Rohan Gavaskar, the son of Test cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.[3]

In December 1951, Irani played for Bombay University in a match against the Marylebone Cricket Club. In the match, he played alongside Madhusudan Patil, the father of Test cricketer Sandeep Patil.[3] In the 1952–53 season, Irani captained a Bombay University team that included five future Test match players: (Nari Contractor, Naren Tamhane, Chandrakant Patankar, Gundibail Sunderam and Ramnath Kenny).[4] In one match captained by Irani, five catches were dropped in the opening over.[5] The Bombay University team won that year's Rohinta Barion Trophy, after defeating Delhi in the final.[1][3] In 1953, Irani made his only appearance in the Ranji Trophy, playing for Bombay in a match against Baroda.[6] He was out lbw to Vijay Hazare for 17.[4][7][8] Irani's team-mate Shishir Hattangadi said that Irani was disappointed to have only ever played one Ranji Trophy match.[3]

Irani played in the Kanga Cricket League, a monsoon season cricket tournament, for 57 years,[9] starting in 1949.[7][8] He described the difficulty of batting in the tournament: "A person who gets 30 or 40 runs is as good as getting a 50 or a 100 when you play on a dry wicket, the uncertainty of the wicket added to Kanga League’s beauty."[8] He played for Parsee Cyclists, and took over the captaincy of the side from Nari Contractor.[1] In 1991, Irani stumped Sachin Tendulkar in a Kanga League match.[10] Irani played as a wicket-keeper even in his 60s,[1] before retiring from cricket at the age of 69.[9]

At Bombay Cricket Club, Irani was nicknamed the "centre table man".[10] Irani was married to Dhanu, and they had two daughters.[1] He continued to attend Bombay Gymkhana cricket matches even after his retirement,[3] until he moved to Dubai in December 2020 to be near one of his daughters.[1] Irani died on 3 April 2021 in Dubai,[1] and his death was announced by the Mumbai Cricket Association.[2] His funeral was held the next day.[1][6]

• ESPN Cricinfo