Dilip Vengsarkar was just in his teens when he slammed a majestic century for Mumbai against Rest Of India in the Irani trophy match in 1975, but that was enough to earn him a spot in the Indian team. He made his debut against New Zealand in Auckland in 1975-76 as an opening batsman and though the Indian team won the match, Vengsarkar did not impress much. In fact, he took quite a while to settle down and tasted international success only after a couple of years. But when it came, he made the most of it and went on to become one of India's most consistent batsmen over the next decade.

The late 1970s and the 1980s saw the rapid rise of Dilip Vengsarkar. One of his most memorable knocks came against Pakistan in Delhi in the year 1979. India required a mammoth 390 runs on the final day but Vengsarkar's unbeaten 146 took them close to achieving the target (However, he ran out of partners and the match ended in a draw with India needing just 26 runs). Things got better for him in the coming years; Vengsarkar was part of the World Cup winning squad in 1983, and was rated as the best batsman in the Coopers and Lybrand rating in 1986-87.

Batting at the crucial number 3 position, he scored centuries against quality bowling attacks in tough conditions. He scored 6 centuries against West Indies, which boasted of a bowling line up with the likes of Holding, Marshall and Roberts. Vengsarkar has also scored 3 centuries at the Lord's, and was the Man of the Series in 1986 when India won in England. He replaced Kapil Dev as the captain post the 1987 World Cup, but lost the position in 1989 following a turbulent period. His form dipped, and he was dropped from the squad for a while. He made a comeback a year later, but was never the same player.

When he retired in 1992, he was only behind the legendary Sunil Gavaskar in Test runs and centuries. Post retirement, he started a coaching academy called the Elf Vengsarkar academy in Mumbai. In the year 2006, he was appointed the chief selector by the BCCI. India failed miserably in the 2007 World
Cup, making a first round exit, but Vengsarkar remained the Chairman of selectors. He backed a lot of youngsters during his tenure, and took some bold steps by dropping some senior players from the squad. India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and tasted success in many places including
Australia during his tenure.

By Karthik Lakshmanan