The selection committee under Vijay Merchant tried out many new players that season and Chetan Chauhan and Ajit Pai also made their debut in the same match.
Mankad batted at No.3 in the first Test and added a record 146 for the fourth wicket with Nawab of Pataudi.
Mankad shared some good opening partnerships with Sunil Gavaskar in the series in West Indies in 1970–71 but after a bad tour of England in 1971, he was dropped.
But three Test appearances brought him only 119 runs at 23.80, allowing Chetan Chauhan to establish himself as an opening partner of Gavaskar in this series.
His highest first class score of 265 was made in the 1981 finals where Bombay defeated Delhi by an innings.
Their son Harsh Mankad is a member of the Indian Davis Cup tennis team since 2000.
Elder son Mihir Mankad was also a tennis player and is now a professor and leadership coach.