Former India cricketer and coach Anshuman Gaekwad passed away at the age of 71 on Wednesday night after losing a battle with blood cancer. Gaekwad represented India in 40 Tests and 15 One-Day Internationals between 1975 and 1987, in addition to 206 first-class games for Baroda.
Snehal Parikh, CEO of the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA), told IANS that Gaekwad died at 10 p.m. Gaekwad had blood cancer treatment at King’s College Hospital in London before returning to his hometown of Baroda in June to continue treatment at a local hospital.
As a batter, Gaekwad scored 1985 runs in the longer format, with his top score of 201 against Pakistan. He also scored 269 runs in the 50-over format. Gaekwad enjoyed a great Test association with batting star Sunil Gavaskar and served as his opening partner for a long time.
Gaekwad then became India’s head coach from October 1997 to September 1999, after serving as a selector previously.
During his period, leg-spinner Anil Kumble got all ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan in New Delhi in 1999.
Gaekwad received the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017-18 and served on the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) alongside Kapil Dev and Shantha Rangaswamy.
Gaekwad was President of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) until his death and represented the organization on the BCCI Apex Council from 2019 to 2022. In February of this year, his father Datta Gaekwad, who played 11 Tests for India, died in Baroda.
Source:IANS