'The man who nearly beat Bradman's record' Nimbalkar dies

Former Ranji cricketer B B Nimbalkar passed away on Tuesday due to age-related illness at his Nagala park residence in Kolhapur.

Nimbalkar was 93.

The right-handed batsman holds the record of scoring unbeaten an 443 runs for Maharashtra against Kathiawar in a Ranji Trophy match at Pune in 1948-49.

He was often described as "a man who nearly beat Bradman" for his innings, as at that time his knock was second only to the Australian's 452 not out as the record first-class innings.

That particular innings still remains the fourth-highest individual score in first class cricket.

He was unable to break the record because, with the total standing at 826 for 4 at the lunch interval, the other side conceded the match.

Later, Bradman sent a personal note to Nimbalkar saying that he considered the Indian's innings better than his own.

Born on December 12, 1919, Nibalkar played cricket for various teams like Baroda, Holkar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Railways.

An aggregate of 3,687 runs at a healthy average of 56.72 with 11 centuries marked him out as one of the outstanding batsmen in the Ranji Trophy.

Nimbalkar had 58 wickets in his domestic career which spanned from 1939-40 to 1964-65, and also kept wickets in some matches.

A prolific run getter, Nimbalkar, in his 80-match long first-class career, scored 4,577 runs at an average of 52.01 with 12 centuries.

Though, he never represented India in an official Test, he played for the country only once -- against the first Commonwealth team in 1949-50, where he scored 48.