Rohan Bholalall Kanhai was born on December 26, 1935 in Port Mourant, Berbice, British Guiana. Kanhai, as he is known world over was a Guyanese and West Indian batsman in the late fifties, sixties and early seventies and played in several great West Indian teams, which included other Guyanese talent like Sir Clive Lloyd, Basil Butcher, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin Kallicharran.
From the time of his first first-class match in 1954/5 to the end of his active playing days in 1977, well over 20 years later, the dapper right hander had played a total of 421 games, amassing 29,250 runs at an average of 49.40 with 86 centuries and 120 fifties.
His best innings was in Calcutta, India. He scored 256 off of the Indian bowlers. He was famous for his unorthodox shots, most notably the “falling hook” shot, in which he finished his follow through lying on his back. In his county cricket career for Warwickshire, he also starred alongside Kallicharran, as well as John Jameson, and Dennis Amiss. The great Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar named his son Rohan after Kanhai.
He also held 325 catches during that time which included seven stumpings. For all these years his batting was most times described as stroke-filled with a penchant for the unorthodox…exhilarating, incomparable, dazzling, yet elegant. For his ability to dominate bowling combined with technical excellence and graceful elegant stroke play, Kanhai is widely acknowledged to be among the best. Never in the history of the game during his prime had a batsman so dominated fast bowling especially, pre helmet and all, with equal grace, power and elegance.
After quickly rising through the ranks of school and inter-territorial cricket he made his Test debut at the age of 22 against England in June of 1957 ending his Test career in March 1974 at the Queen’s Park Oval. The Queen’s Park Oval was the scene of many of his great Test innings. His first Test innings on our hallowed ground was a scintillating match top score of 96 in February 1958 when we defeated Pakistan, one of the many close-to-100-innings in his career. In February 1960 he returned to blaze 110 against England; in April 1962, 139 against India; in May 1965, 121 against Australia; in January 1968, 85 against England; and in March 1968 in the famous loss to England after Sobers’ double declarations, he plundered 153.
Following a couple of strong domestic seasons he was selected in the British Guiana team in 1955 when nineteen, scoring 51 and 27 in the match with the Australian touring side. In 1956 he distinguished himself by hitting 129 from the Jamaica bowling and 195 against Barbados in the Quadrangular Tournament, followed with innings of 62 and 90 in the first of two trials which helped in the selection of the party to tour England. In his early days Kanhai was a wicketkeeper as well as a belligerent middle-order batsman. Indeed, in his first three Tests he kept wicket before Franz Alexander took over behind the stumps but still deputized as keeper on several other occasions. His best Test score of 256 came against India at Calcutta in 1958/59 followed by another double century against Pakistan on a further leg of that tour.
He played county cricket with much success for Warwickshire from 1968 to 1977. For Warwickshire he scored 1,000 runs in a season on ten occasions, his best year being 1970 when he plundered 1,894 at an average of 57.39. His highest score for Warwickshire was 253 against Nottinghamshire in 1968 at Trent Bridge. In 1971 during the Rest of the World series versus Australia Kanhai scored a superb 115 against Dennis Lillee at Perth. In brilliant style he combated Dennis Lillee bowling at his fastest on the fastest and bounciest of wickets at Perth. He captained the West Indies, succeeding Garry Sobers, on 13 occasions including to a 2-0 test series victory in England in 1973. After retirement the West Indies called on Kanhai as their in charge of coaching the under-19s before being assigned to the Test team a role he held from 1992-1995.
