The development was confirmed to TOI by an official of Cricket Ireland.
Popularly known in the cricketing circles as ‘Bobjee,’ Rao moved to Ireland 36 years ago (in 1988). Like former India opener Raman Lamba, he married an Irish woman and represented Ireland.
The two-match T20I series between India and Ireland in Ireland could be historic as India’s 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who received his maiden India call-up for India’s T20I series in Ireland and England, could be making his highly-anticipated international debut in it. The series would also mark the India captaincy debut of Mumbai and Punjab Kings middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer.
An allrounder, who bowled fastish leg breaks, Rao played 108 first-class matches, in which he took 245 wickets@28.05, besides scoring 4845 runs@40.71, with nine centuries, between 1971-72 and 1988-89. Bobjee made his Test debut at Eden Gardens against Kallicharran’s West Indies at the Eden Gardens in 1978-79. He took three wickets (75.66), and scored 46 runs (9.20) in his short Test career.
‘Bobjee’ was a pillar for the Hyderabad team for two decades and had one of the best allround performances in the Ranji Trophy – 4124 runs (47.40) and 218 wickets (24.20). Later, he played as a professional in Ireland.
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