In 1936, Cotar Ramaswami became only the second Indian to make his Test debut after turning 40; also played at Wimbledon, disappeared from his home in 1985 and remains listed as “unknown death”

All India cricket team touring England, 1936. (L-R): Baqa Jilani, Lala Armanath, Syed Mohammad Hussain, Mushtaq Ali, Kotar Ramaswami, Khershed Meherhomji. Seated: Phiroze Edulji Palia, Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu, Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram, Mohammad Nissar, Vijay Merchant. (Photo/Getty Images) Only 13 cricketers in the history of Test cricket have made their debut after turning 40. Two of them were Indians — Rustomji Jamshedji Dorabji Jamshedji and Cotar Ramaswami.Jamshedji remains the oldest Indian to make his Test debut. He was 41 years and 27 days old when he played against England at Bombay on 15 December 1933. Born on 16 June 1896, in Madras (now Chennai), Ramaswami made his debut at the age of 40 years and 39 days against England in Manchester on 25 July 1936.Born on 18 November 1892 in Bombay (now Mumbai), Jamshedji played only one Test for India, while Ramaswami played two.But Ramaswami’s story goes beyond his short Test career. He played first-class cricket for 27 years, represented Cambridge University in tennis and even appeared at Wimbledon. Decades later, he left his home in Chennai one morning and was never seen or heard from again.

A family of cricketers

Cotar Ramaswami was the youngest son of Buchi Babu Naidu who was a pioneer in Madras cricket.Ramaswami was a left-handed batsman and played 53 first-class matches, scoring 2400 runs at 28.91, including two centuries. He also took 30 wickets at 33.06.He came from a family closely associated with cricket. His brothers M Baliah and M Venkataramanjulu played first-class cricket, as did his son C Ramaswaroop. Four of his nephews and a great-nephew also played first-class cricket.Ramaswami made his first-class debut for the Indians against the Europeans in 1915-16. He scored 21 and 31 in the first innings and took two wickets for 24 runs.The following season, he scored 92 and 44 in the same match, taking six wickets for 126 runs in the match.The performances caught the attention of the Madras cricket fraternity. However, the options were limited. Ramaswami generally played only one first-class match a year and made only four appearances before he left for Cambridge in 1919.

Try tennis

At Cambridge, Ramaswami continued to play cricket but also started playing tennis.He studied there until 1923 and represented Cambridge University in men’s doubles. After winning matches during the tour of the Netherlands, he was selected for the Davis Cup team.He also played at Wimbledon that year.Ramaswami won his first-round match against Britain’s Ulysses Williams in a five-set contest 5–7, 8–10, 6–0, 14–12, 6–3.He was then defeated by Nicolae Misu, who won 6–1, 6–4, 6–3.

Back to cricket

After completing his studies at Cambridge, Ramaswami returned to India and joined the Agricultural Department as an officer.He continued his cricket for Madras and was part of the first Ranji Trophy match against Mysore where he scored 26.In 1936, at the age of 40, he was selected for India’s tour of England.in his book Wanderings of a Gaming AddictRamaswami modestly claimed that he believed he had been selected for reasons other than cricket, as he had become ‘bulky and slow’. His performances on tour suggested otherwise.He scored 737 runs at an average of 30.70 in first-class matches before making his debut in the second Test at Old Trafford.

The Indian cricket team photographed in London during their tour of England in June 1936. Back row (left-right); Baqa Jilani, Morappakam Gopalan, Laxmidas Jai, Lala Amarnath, Amir Elahi, Kotar Ramaswami. Middle Row: Vijay Merchant, Mohammad Nisar, Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu, Maharajah of Vizianagaram (Captain), Syed Wazir Ali, Phiroze Edulji Palia, Mohammad Hussain. Front Row: Mushtaq Ali, Dattaram Hindlekar, Shute Banerjee, Khershed Meherhomji. (Photo/Getty Images)

At 40 years and 37 days, he became the second-oldest Indian to make his Test debut when he won an India cap in the second Test match of the series at Old Trafford.He scored 40 and 60 in the match and helped India draw the Test. It was also the match in which Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali put together their famous opening partnership of 203 runs.Ramaswami followed it up with scores of 29 and 41 not out in the final Test at the Oval.He ended his Test career with 170 runs at an average of 56.66. That was the end of his international career, but Ramaswami continued to play for Madras for several more years.His first-class career spanned 25 years, during which he scored 2,261 runs at 28.26. He was known as a left-handed batsman with a powerful stroke on both sides of the wicket.He also represented the Indians in the Bombay Quadrangular and Pentangular tournaments.

From player to manager and voter

Ramaswami remained involved in cricket after his playing career.He managed India’s tour of the West Indies in 1953. The team became one of the most popular Indian sides to visit the Caribbean.He became a national voter in the late 1950s. However, the period was marred by disagreements over team selection and India’s poor performances.It came to a head during the 1958–59 home series against the West Indies, when India had four captains in five Tests and there was considerable disagreement over selection.

Disappearance

Ramaswami’s story took an unexplained turn decades later. On the morning of October 15, 1985, he left his residence in Adyar and never returned.There have been occasional reports of sightings over the years, but none have been confirmed.Wisden eventually listed him as “presumed dead”. His whereabouts were never ascertained, although the record books later began to list January 1990 as the date of his death.Wisden continues to list his death as an “unknown death”.His family knew little of what had become of him, except that he did not want to be a burden to them.