Indians and county cricket aren't commonly spoke about in the same sentence. Even rarer are Indians playing for Nottinghamshire.

During their century and a half since being founded, Notts have only had one Indian grace the Trent Bridge turf – Dilip Doshi.

Far away from a household name in 1973 when he first played for Notts, the slow left armer was soon the player everyone was talking about.

English conditions, and Nottinghamshire in particular, quickly became a happy hunting ground for the spinner – who once took 6-33 against Cambridge University at the start of 1978 season.

Taking 157 wickets overall at an average 29.22 over his six years at the club finally propelled Doshi onto the radar of the national side.

Having had to play out the majority of his career in the shadow of the legendary Bishan Singh Bedi, he made his Test debut in 1979-80 when he was 32.

For the next three years, Doshi was the go to man for captain Kapil Dev.

He became only the second bowler, after legendary Australian legspinner Clarrie Grimmett, to reach 100 wickets after making their Test debuts after turning 30.

An intelligent bowler in all conditions, Doshi went on to take 114 wickets at an average of 30.71 in 33 Tests. He also played in 15 One Day Internationals.

Unless cricketers go into coaching or punditry it can be easy to forget them after they retire. However, that statement couldn't be further from the truth for Doshi.

His international cricketing career came to an abrupt halt. He was dropped by India in 1983 after having an uneasy relationship with Sunil Gavaskar.

He then turned to business and has been very successful.

His first interest turned to Mont Blanc sparked by his first pen from the company, given to him by his father who had bought it at a factory in Germany.

His immediate aim was to bring the brand to India. To do that he met with the company's president and vice-president in 1990.

However, he still had to get over the issue that luxury remained a taboo word in India at that time.

With that issue out of the way, Doshi was able to change the landscape of India's shopping and there are now 16 Mont Blanc boutiques in India, all situated at hotels, while a number of other luxury brands have decided to make India a home.

He is also good friends with Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stone, being an avid cricket follower, met Doshi at Trent Bridge and since then the friendship has blossomed and he has been to hundreds of the bands live shows since.

For more news, previews and match reports visit the Nottingham Post.

 

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