Former Delhi cricketer Rajeshwar Prasad Thapliyal has passed away after a brief illness. He was 68 years old and is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.
A leg-spinner of his era, Thapliyal was one of the best school cricketers Delhi has ever produced. He was the member of Delhi Ranji team for two seasons 1962-64 and 1963-64.
Thapliyal, who passed away on Monday evening, was also the captain of Delhi state school team and North Zone School team from 1963 to 1965.
Former Test cricketer Mohinder Amarnath had also played under his captaincy in the prestigious Cooch Behar Trophy Cricket championship in the North Zone team.
In 1962-63, he was declared the best bowler of All India school championships by the BCCI.
In that particular Cooch Behar Trophy season, he had taken a record 41 wickets in just four matches. In one match he took a record 16 wickets (9 and 7) against Northern Punjab team.
Thapliyal was duly rewarded for his phenomenal bowling by the Indian board as he was selected for the All India Schools cricket team to tour Ceylone (now Sri Lanka) for the tri-series against hosts Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Thapliyal, who represented State Bank of India for more than two decades, also represented Delhi University team in 1966 in All India inter-university cricket tournament.