Former Gujarat cricketer Walter D'Souza passes away

Gujarat's Walter D'Souza, one of the oldest living first-class cricketers, passed away in his sleep on Friday at the age of 93.

Walter D'Souza during the Gujarat vs Rest of India Irani Cup match in Mumbai, in January, 2017.

Former Gujarat cricketer, Walter D'Souza, 93, passed away in his sleep at his residence here on Friday. He was one of India's oldest living first-class cricketers, who featured in 16 fixtures for Gujarat.

In the 27 innings that he appeared in, D'Souza scored 821, with an average of 35.69.

The cricketing fraternity expressed condolences on D’Souza’s demise. Former Gujarat coach Vijay Patel remembers how D’souza visited the Brabourne Stadium in 2017 for the Irani Cup fixture between Gujarat and Rest of India. “Since Gujarat was the Ranji Trophy champion that year, we had invited him for the Irani Cup. He was 90 and even then, he came and interacted with the players. It was a memorable afternoon,” Patel said.

D’Souza’s first-class career lasted for nearly two decades from 1947-1948 to 1965-1966. He also featured in Mumbai's Times Shield for ACC. Back in those days, the Times Shield fixtures between Tatas and ACC were crowd-pullers.