Vasant Ranjane was a 'slightly built, unlikely looking figure for an opening bowler' who relied more on line and length than speed for his wickets,[2] but could 'swing both ways and cut the ball off the seam'.
[4] Ranjane had a fabulous start to his first class career when he took nine wickets for 35 in an innings on his debut (13 for 71 in the match) including a hat-trick for Maharashtra against Saurashtra in 1956–57.
[5] The role was reversed when he played his first Test two years later against West Indies at Green Park, Kanpur, when his only wicket was the one missed by Subhash Gupte who took 9 for 102.
Partly due to the presence off too many all-rounders in the side, Ranjane played only in the final Test where he took the wickets of Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers and Frank Worrell.
After his father, who was a factory worker, died when Ranjane was ten, his mother worked as a maid in a hospital to support the family.