skip the Olympic trials. This turned out to be a terrible decision. The hockey team captained by Dhyan Chand, one of the finest teams in the history of the sport, won the gold medal with little difficulty. As it turned out, Gopalan did not play a Test in England. The tour was marred by internal politics and the team returned in disgrace. Gopalan's batting improved with time. Johnstone wrote later that it featured a "stance at the wicket with his left toe cocked up in the air. Since it was the stance adopted by England's most famous cricketer, W.G. Grace, he could hardly be faulted on this account. He was then about a No.10 batsman, but by steady application he showed what improvement a bowler who really tries can make in batting and later on played many fine innings". The most celebrated of these 'many fine innings' was a 64 against the West Indians in 1949 which featured some thrilling driving. In 1952, a silver jubilee fund was started to celebrate Gopalan's 25 years in cricket and hockey. An annual cricket match was instituted between Madras and Ceylon (later Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka) for the M. J. Gopalan Trophy. This yearly tournament continued with a few interruptions till Sri Lanka got Test status in the early 1980s. It was revived in 2000 as a match between Tamil Nadu and a Colombo District Cricket Association. This also lapsed after two years. He served as a national selector for a few years in the 1950s. Gopalan was the oldest living Test cricketer at the time of his death. According to him, he was born in 1906 but the year of his birth was recorded wrongly in the school records. One of the entrances to the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium is named after Gopalan. References External links Sportstar obituary Indian cricketers India Test cricketers Tamil Nadu cricketers Hindus cricketers South Zone cricketers Tamil sportspeople 2003 deaths 1909 births Cricketers from Chennai Field hockey players from Chennai Indian male field hockey players Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports