Dicky Rutnagur

Dicky Jamshed Sohrab Rutnagur (26 February 1931 – 20 June 2013) was an Indian sports journalist. He was cricket correspondent for the Hindustan Times from 1958 to 1966, when he became a freelance based in the UK. He covered cricket, squash and badminton for The Daily Telegraph from 1966 to 2005.

A Parsi, he was born in Bandra and was educated at St. Xavier's College. He then worked in the family business, which published the Indian Textile Journal. He then began covering cricket matches as a freelance, writing for The Bharat, a local sports paper, and then for daily newspapers.[1]

With Anandji Dossa, he co-edited The Indian Cricket-Field Annual throughout its life from 1957-8 to 1965-6. He first wrote for Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1963, and his most recent piece appeared in the 2007 edition. He wrote two books, including a biography of squash legend Jahangir Khan. The duo of Dickie as commentator and Vijay Merchant as expert is remembered by millions of Indian cricket fans.

Encouraged to move to England by Ron Roberts, he joined The Daily Telegraph, for whom he covered county cricket from 1966 to 2005. According to his Wisden obituary, "a press box with Dicky in it was always full of cigarette smoke, chat and mischief, with whisky afterwards".[2] He sometimes wrote for two national newspapers at the same time, as "Dilip Rao" when he wrote for The Guardian and as "D.J. Rutnagur" when writing for The Daily Telegraph.

He was the only person to witness both of two great cricketing feats. He was present when Garry Sobers hit six sixes in an over from Malcolm Nash in a County Championship match in Swansea in 1968 and, more than 16 years later, he also witnessed Ravi Shastri do likewise, off Baroda slow left-armer Tilak Raj in a Ranji Trophy game in Bombay.[3]

He died on 20 June 2013 in London after a prolonged illness.[4] He was 82 and is survived by his son Richard Sohrab Rutnagur, who gave him much pleasure by playing cricket for Oxford University and winning a Blue.[1]

Books

• Khans Unlimited: A History of Squash in Pakistan, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-577805-2.
• Test Commentary, India v England, 1976-77

Notes

1. "Dicky Rutnagur". The Daily Telegraph. 10 July 2013. p. 27.
2. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 2014 edition, "Obituaries", p220.
3. "Now isn't that something?". ESPN Cricinfo.
4. "Dicky Rutnagur passes away at 82". Wisden India. June 21, 2013.

References

• Barclay's World of Cricket - 2nd Edition, 1980, Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-00-216349-7, p654.
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 2007 edition, ISBN 978-1-905625-02-4, p80.