Mangalore : We regret to announce the death of Ganapthy Rao (90), a former Ranji Trophy cricket player, who hit a century on his debut. He was admitted to a private nursing home this week but died yesterday. He was a tailor.
At 35, he played in a Ranji Trophy match held in Mangalore, on Central Maidan in 1957 in his debut entry and scored 125 runs as a wicket-keeper batsman, playing alongside Pai and Fernandes (a bowler). He played matches in Madras, Mysore and Mumbai. And knew many of the old time cricketers of 1960s he stayed in Bejai. He leaves 9 children, including Sunil Rao of sports Promoters.