Vijay Singh Madhavji Merchant , (born Vijay Madhavji Thackersey; 12 October 1911 – 27 October 1987) was an Indian cricketer. A right-hand batsman and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Merchant played first-class cricket for Bombay cricket team as well as 10 Test matches for India between 1929 and 1951. Behind his limited Test appearances, he dominated Indian domestic cricket – his batting average of 71.64 is the second highest first-class average in history, behind only that of Don Bradman. that placed more importance on right technique, steely temperament, and conservative approach rather than free flow of the bat.
His international career included two tours of England upon which he scored over 800 runs. English cricketer C. B. Fry exclaimed "Let us paint him white and take him with us to Australia as an opener." His brother, Uday, also played first-class cricket.
Besides cricket, he was also associated with the Hindoostan Spinning & Weaving Mills (Thackersey Group) and was the Sheriff of Bombay in 1970.
Domestic cricket
Merchant was born in Bombay, into a wealthy Gujarati family in 1911. He was an "outstanding college cricketer" who captained Sydenham College, while studying there;
Throughout his career, Merchant was involved in a rivalry with the other great Indian batsman of the era, Vijay Hazare, with each trying to better the scores of the other. In the 1943 Bombay Pentangular final against the Rest, Merchant bettered Hazare's tournament record score of 248, set in the previous match against the Muslims, with 250 not out. Hazare responded with a 309 out of a team total of 387 in the same match. Less than a month later, Merchant topped that by amassing 359 not out against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy, setting a then record for the highest score in Indian first-class cricket.
International career
Merchant's Test career spanned 18 years but during that time he played only ten Test matches, and was unfortunate that some of the best years of his career were lost to the Second World War, when no international cricket was played. He also missed tours to Australia and the West Indies due to poor health.
Merchant went on to become a cricket administrator, broadcaster, writer and national selector, and charitable advocate of the handicapped. on Vividh Bharati, Anu D. Aggarwal quotes a survey, which revealed that it was one of the most listened to sponsored programmes.
Legacy
Although Merchant played only ten Test matches, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest batmen of his era.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India named its under-16 domestic cricket tournament Vijay Merchant Trophy in his honour.