Deepak Shodhan, not Pananmal Punjabi is the oldest living Indian Test cricketer

May 25, 2014

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Cricket record books suggest that after the death of Madhav Mantri, who passed away on May 23, 2014 at the age of 92, Pananmal Hotchand Punjabi is the oldest living Indian Test cricketer.

However, the fact of the matter is that Punjabi expired on October 4, 2011. So what does this imply? This means former India batsman, Deepak Shodhan (85 years, 219 days) is now the oldest living Indian Test player followed by erstwhile captain Dattajirao Gaekwad (85 years, 210 days) and CD Gopinath (84 years, 84 days). This fact was unearthed by Bipin Dani, who shared it with mid-day.

In order to verify the claim, CricketCountry’s staff went through the death registration records of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, and we found the claim to be correct. (Refer to the picture above)

According to Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s records, Punjabi had passed away in Bombay Hospital on October 4, 2011 in Ward 12, registered under certificate No: 066373.

Shodhan is now 85 years old and lives in Ahmedabad.