One of the several Indian cricketers to have played just one Test, Rakesh Shukla was a pillar of strength for Delhi for many years. He had an excellent record in the Ranji Trophy where his allround skills were seen to good effect. A pugnacious late order batsman and a legbreak-googly bowler, Shukla took 313 wickets (18.98) in the national competition. With the bat his finest moment came in the 1981-82 final against Karnataka when he and Rajesh Peter added an unbeaten 118 runs for the ninth wicket to steer Delhi past Karnataka's first innings of 705 for a memorable triumph. In the only Test he played - against Sri Lanka at Madras in 1982-83 ,incidentally the first Test between the two countries - Shukla did not get to bat but finished with figures of 0 for 70 and 2 for 82, the prized wickets of Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis. But despite continuing to do well around the domestic circuit he was not considered again.
Partab Ramchand