Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh celebrate 100th birthday of India's oldest living first-class cricketer
Former first-class player, Vasant Raiji, who is the oldest living cricketer of India, completes 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.
Tendulkar posted a video with Raiji and Waugh in which he is giving a sweet message to the former player and cutting cake alongside him.
Tendulkar wrote on his Instagram post: "A Special Century! Wishing you a very special 100th birthday, Shri Vasant Raiji. @stevewaugh & 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."
Raiji, who is a right-handed batsman, played 9 first-class matches in his decade long career and scored 277 runs at an average of 23. Raiji made his debut for Cricket Club of India (CCI), in which he played against Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939. The debut match didn't go as he was out on a duck in the first innings, while in the second innings he scored unbeaten 1.
Later, Raiji made his debut for Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1941 against Western India under the captaincy of legendary Vijay Merchant. He shared the Bombay dressing room with the legends of the game like Lala Amarnath, Merchant, CK Nayudu and Vijay Hazare. After retiring from cricket, Raiji joined his family business of chartered accountancy.
Even after joining the family business, Raiji didn't leave his love for the game behind and wrote books on cricketers -- Victor Trumper, CK Nayudu, LP Jai. Raiji was also one of the founding members of the Jolly Cricket Club.
