WATCH: Tendulkar, Waugh celebrate 100th birthday of India's oldest living first-class player

Born on January 26 in 1920, Vasant Raiji hit a century off the field today.

Vasan Raiji hit a century off the field | TwitterLegendary Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh were present as India's oldest living first-class cricketer, Vasant Raiji, celebrated his 100th birthday on Sunday (January 26). 

Born in 1920, Raiji played nine first-class matches in his decade long career and scored 277 runs at an average of 23. The right-hand batsman made his debut for Cricket Club of India (CCI) and played against Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939. 

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"Wishing you a very special 100th birthday, Shri Vasant Raiji," Tendulkar tweeted as caption of a video where Raiji can be seen cutting the cake. "Steve & I had a wonderful time listening to some amazing cricket stories about the past. Thank you for passing on a treasure trove of memories about our beloved sport."

Raiji made his debut for Bombay in 1941 under the great Vijay Merchant's captaincy, sharing the dressing room also with other legendary figures like Lala Amarnath, Merchant, CK Nayudu and Vijay Hazare. 

After his retirement, Raiji joined his family business of chartered accountancy. But the love for the game never faded as he went on to write books on cricketers such as Victor Trumper, CK Nayudu, LP Jai. Raiji was also one of the founding members of the Jolly Cricket Club. 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 26 Jan, 2020

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