Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju was an Indian cricketer played Test Cricket during the times of British rule in India. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju was born on 28th December 1905.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju was the well known face of Indian cricket and Indian political scenario, better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or Vizzy.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju or Vizzy was the second son of Pusapati Vijaya Rama Gajapathi Raju, the ruler of Vizianagaram. He was conferred with the title Maharaj Kumar. He was locally referred as the "Prince".
After his father"s death (Pusapati Vijaya Rama Gajapathi Raju) in the year 1922, his elder brother became the king and Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju moved to the family estates in Varanasi.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju attended the Princes" College in Ajmer and Haileybury and Imperial Service College in England. He excelled at tennis and cricket and hunting.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju organised his cricket team in 1926 and constructed a ground in his palace compounds. He recruited players from India and abroad. When MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) cancelled the tour of India in 1930-1931 owing to political problems, he organised a team of his own and toured India and Ceylon (Srilanka).
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju succeeded in drafting Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe for the team, a considerable feat as Hobbs had previously refused offers for five such tours.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju brought Learie Constantine to India a few years later. He brought Mushtaq Ali to Benares (Varanasi) for training when he was still a high school student.
The organisation of the 1930-31 tour gave Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju a standing in Indian cricket that was second only to the Maharaja of Patiala.
About this time, Patiala fell out with Lord Willingdon, the Viceroy of India, and Vizzy got close with the viceroy. He donated a pavilion named after the viceroy in the newly constructed Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium ground in Delhi. When the national championship was started in 1934, he attempted to donate a gold "Willingdon trophy" but Patiala beat him to it with his Ranji Trophy.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju was awarded Padma Bhushan, in the year 1958. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju was the member of the Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in 1960 and 1962. The Benares University (University of Varanasi) conferred him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1944.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju married the eldest daughter of the ruler of the Zamindari estate of Kashipur. He died aged 59 in Varanasi.
