Do you know which bowler has the record for the most consecutive maiden overs in a test match inning? Indian left-arm spinner R.G. Nadkarni was born on April 4, 1933, in Nasik, Maharashtra. The first Test match between India and England took place at Madras in 1964, when R. G. Nadkarni, a slow left-arm bowler, delivered 21 consecutive maiden overs and 131 balls in all without conceding a run in England’s first innings.
This was a new record for six-ball maiden overs in first-class cricket, the previous best being 17 by H. L. Hazell for Somerset v. Gloucestershire at Taunton in 1949 and by G. A. R. Lock for M.C.C. Governor-General’s XI at Karachi in 1955–56. Both players were also slow left-arm bowlers and delivered 105 and 104 balls, respectively, without conceding a run.
One marveled at the man for his amazing persistence and accuracy. R.G. Nadkarni did not succeed, however, in obtaining the record for the most balls delivered without conceding a run. This record was earlier held by H. J. Tayfield with 137 balls for South Africa vs. England at Durban in 1956–57, bowling 16 eight-ball maiden overs in the process. In passing, it is of interest to mention that when at last a run was scored off Nadkarni, he was taken off by the Nawab of Pataudi, giving rise to the comment that he had become too expensive!
At the end of the day, his bowling analysis was 29-26-3-0, and the next day he bowled a further three over’s to finish with the figures of 32-27-5-0. This is the only instance on record of a bowler delivering 25 or more six-ball over’s in an inning and conceding less than 10 runs, although there are instances in the days when the over consisted of four or five balls.
Bapu Nadkarni, however, delivered 192 balls, whereas the previous largest number of balls bowled for less than 10 runs on record was 166 by A. Shaw for Nottinghamshire v. M.C.C. at Lord’s in 1875, his full analysis being 41.2-36-7-7.
It must be remembered that Stewart, Knight, Titmus, and Parks were all unwell, as were Bolus and Barrington, who were batting throughout Nadkarni’s long spell of bowling. They were concerned with staying in as long as possible in order to give the other players a chance to recover on the following day, which was a rest day. In the Mumbai Test of the same series against England, he bowled another tight spell of 14-11-3-0.
Keep in mind that West Indies spinner Alf Valentine holds the record of 49 maidens over’s in a Test inning. Overall, he bowled 75 overs. To date, this is the record for most maiden overs bowled by a bowler in a Test match innings.
Bapu Nadkarni just gave away 1.67 runs per over in his entire Test career. He also bowled some economic spells against Pakistan in the 1960–61 series. At Kanpur, his bowling figures were 32-24-23-0, followed by 34-24-24-1 at Delhi. R.G. Nandkarni died on January 17, 2020, in Mumbai at the age of 86 years and 288 days.
