▁of ▁the ▁season ▁he ▁only ▁once ▁passed ▁fifty . ▁He ▁scored ▁ 1 , 9 4 0 ▁runs ▁at ▁ 4 5 . 1 2 , ▁figures ▁which ▁matched ▁other ▁leading ▁b ats men , ▁but ▁his ▁relative ▁loss ▁of ▁form , ▁noted ▁by ▁critics , ▁was ▁ow ed ▁partly ▁to ▁ill ▁health . ▁He ▁suffered ▁from ▁ast h ma ▁throughout ▁the ▁season , ▁and ▁some ▁comment ators ▁bl amed ▁the ▁stress ▁of ▁producing ▁his ▁book . ▁However , ▁he ▁may ▁also ▁have ▁been ▁dist ract ed ▁by ▁his ▁interest ▁in ▁the ▁N aw an agar ▁succession . ▁ ▁Tour ▁of ▁Australia ▁Ran j its in h ji ▁was ▁chosen ▁to ▁tour ▁Australia ▁with ▁Andrew ▁St od dart ' s ▁team ▁during ▁the ▁winter ▁of ▁ 1 8 9 7 – 9 8 . ▁The ▁team ▁was ▁defeated ▁ 4 – 1 ▁by ▁Australia , ▁who ▁were ▁superior ▁tact ically ▁and ▁had ▁the ▁better ▁players ▁in ▁general . ▁Ran j its in h ji ▁was ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁few ▁success es ▁on ▁the ▁tour ▁and ▁scored ▁ 1 , 1 5 7 ▁runs ▁in ▁first - class ▁matches ▁at ▁an ▁average ▁of ▁ 6 0 . 8 9 . ▁He ▁quickly ▁acc limat ised ▁to ▁the ▁un famil iar ▁conditions ▁and ▁scored ▁ 1 8 9 ▁in ▁the ▁first ▁game , ▁followed ▁by ▁scores ▁of ▁ 6 4 ▁and ▁ 1 1 2 ▁in ▁the ▁following ▁two ▁matches . ▁However , ▁shortly ▁before ▁the ▁Test ▁series ▁was ▁due ▁to ▁begin , ▁Ran j