Hyderabad, March 3 -- C.D. Gopinath, India's oldest Test cricketer, recently celebrated his 95th birthday. He made his Test debut in 1951 against England and scored a creditable 50 not out and 42 in his first Test match. The unbeaten half century was a classy knock full of flowing strokes while the second was a fighting effort, scored when Indian wickets were falling rapidly.

He was a member of the Indian team that recorded its historic first-ever victory in Test cricket, defeating England by an innings and 8 runs in 1952. He played for India until 1960. His last match was against Australia that year.

Gopinath played against and alongside some of the greatest cricket legends in the 1950s. These included Englishmen like Brian Statham and...