Career
Ramakant Desai was an Indian fast bowler, who stood less than 5 feet 6 inches in height. His size earned him the nickname "Tiny". He made his Test debut against West Indies in 1958-1959 took 4/169 in 49 overs.
He troubled the batsmen with bouncers, which was unusual for an Indian bowler at the time.
He toured England in 1959, West Indies in 1961-1962 and Australia and New Zealand in 1967-1968. Against Pakistan in 1960-1961, he took 21 wickets in the series.
At Bombay, he scored a quick 85 batting at Number.10, an Indian record, and added a record 149 for the ninth wicket with Nana Joshi. His best bowling performance in Tests was 6 for 56 against New Zealand at Bombay in 1964-1965.
At Dunedin in 1967-1968 his jaw was fractured by a ball from Dick Motz, despite which he added 57 runs for the last wicket with Bishen Bedi.
In his first year in the Ranji Trophy, he took 50 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 11.10. lieutenant is still a record for Bombay. lieutenant included a performance of 5 for 10 and 6 for 28 against Saurashtra.
In the Ranji Trophy final in 1960-1961 he took 7 for 46 and 4 for 74 in Bombay"s victory over Rajasthan.
Two years later, also against Rajasthan in the final, he scored his only first-class century, 107, in another victory. In his 11 years in the Bombay team (1958-1959 to 1968-1969), he never finished in a losing side.
As the only bowler of pace in the Indian team, he was perennially overworked. When Desai retired from regular first-class cricket after the 1968-1969 season, when still only 29 years old, P.N. Sundaresan wrote that he "bowled his heart out on the dead pitches in India.
A more judicious use of his talent both in the Ranji Trophy and other matches could have preserved him as a penetrating bowler for a longer period."
Desai was the chairman of selectors from 1996-1997.
He resigned the post a month before his death. He died four days after being admitted in a hospital for a cardiac arrest.