Sir, – Writing about the great cricketer Prince Ranjitsinhji (An Irishman's Diary, August 11th) Henry Kelly stated, "Little however has been written about Ranji's connections with Ireland". Ranji: Maharajah of Connemara, by Anne Chambers, published in 2002, vividly brings the story of Ranji's nine years' residence and association with Ireland to light and has been a best-seller both in Ireland and in India.
To commemorate Ranji’s endeavours during his time in Ireland and to promote Irish-Indian relations, Ms Chambers kindly donated a trophy – The Ranji Trophy – for a cricket match to be played annually between an Irish and Indian XI in his memory.
In 2008 Trinity College’s South Asia Initiative, a recently instituted programme dedicated to the renewal and development of relationships with India and other countries in south Asia, across a wide range of disciplines from arts and humanities to science, technology and medicine and also reaching out to the Indian community based in Ireland, with the co-operation of the Indian ambassador to Ireland and Ballynahinch Castle, incorporated the annual Ranji Cricket match into its programme.
The 2011 match was played in College Park on August 7th and was attended by a large gathering. The Indian XI emerged the winners, beating the Irish (Leprechauns) with 227 for five wickets.
So the memory of Ranji lives on in Ireland. – Yours, etc,