Legendary Indian cricketer and former Indian coach, and selector Anshuman Gaekwad passed away at the age of 71, after losing his long battle with cancer.
Earlier, Gaekwad had travelled to London and returned a month back to continue the treatment in Baroda.
Known for his calm demeanour, Gaekwad represented India in 40 Tests and 15 One-Day Internationals, scoring 2,254 runs across the two formats. He was coach at a time when India saw skippers such as Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
For Indian cricket fans, ‘The Wall’ moniker will always be associated with the legendary Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid. However, it was Anshuman Gaekwad who was bestowed with this nickname early in his career for his extremely defensive batting approach. He stood his ground like a warrior, without a helmet, against terrifying bowling attacks.
His defensive demeanour was best demonstrated against India’s arch-rivals Pakistan in Jalandhar, where the right-hand batter shushed all his doubters with an impetuous double hundred in the second Test of Pakistan’s India Test series in 1983.
After his playing career came to an end, Gaekwad served as a national selector for the Indian side before taking over as the head coach. His first tenure lasted for two years, from October 1997 to September 1999. He succeeded Madan Lal at a time when India was going through a terrible period in international cricket. His time as the Indian team’s coach was a mixed bag.
His accomplishments in the ODI format were commendable but a disastrous tour of Australia in 1999, along with a dismal World Cup campaign, led to him being sacked from his post of Head coach. Gaekwad returned as the coach after Kapil Dev stepped down as Indian coach in 2000, and served for a small stint before being replaced by India’s first foreign coach John Wright.
But, Geakwad’s efforts wouldn’t go unnoticed, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would go on to honour the pioneering efforts of Anshuman Gaekwad with the coveted CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018, where he was hailed as one of the best coaches in Indian history and was awarded a sum of Rs. 25 lakhs.
