Bobby: India and Ireland... A Love Story

Bobby Rao is a living legend on two continents. In India and in his adopted homeland of Ireland, he has touched people's lives and inspired whole communities. Bobby Rao's life is also a love story – a great love divided equally between Hyderabad and the north west of Ireland. In a First Class cricket career in the 1970s and 80s, which included 4 Test appearances, Bobby proved himself a remarkable all-rounder. A brilliant close fielder and leg spinner, he also scored 4,845 runs competing against the best of the best. He led his native city to an historic Ranji Trophy win in 1987, but by this time Bobby Rao was already dividing his life between India and Ireland, where he married and began raising his young family. For the last 40 years of his life Bobby's excellence and passion as a coach has also allowed the dreams of some of the game's greatest players come true. Men like VVS Laxman in India, and men like Willliam Porterfield, the O'Brien brothers and Ed Joyce in Ireland. When Ireland made a long awaited Test debut in 2018 all but two of the playing XI had Bobby Rao to thank for showing them the way. In 2011, MV Narasimha 'Bobby' Rao was the first Indian cricketer to be awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth II, honouring his inspirational life in sport and also his courageous service to the ethnic community in Northern Ireland.