Former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad passes away at 71

Former Indian head coach Anshuman Gaekwad passed away aged 71 on Wednesday (July 31) after fighting a long battle with blood cancer. He breathed his last at the Bhailal Amin General Hospital in Vadodara.

The BCCI had earlier announced to release of INR 1 crore to Gaekwad's family who were struggling with their finances for his treatment in London. Subsequently, he was shifted to India where the treatments continued in Vadodara.

Anshuman Gaekwas played 40 Test matches for India. He scored two centuries and ten fifties, at a career average of 32. He had scored over 12000 runs in first-class cricket at an average of at an average above 40.

This included 34 centuries and 47 fifties in the meantime. His best knock of 201 came against Pakistan where he batted for over 11 hours displaying great levels of concentration and determination.

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He was the head coach of the Indian team from 1997 to 1999 after Madan Lal stepped down from his position. Unfortunately, he could not bring a lot of success to the national team during that period. Gaekwas was replaced by Kapil Dev.

Gaekwad returned for a brief stay in 2000 after Kapil Dev stepped down and was eventually replaced by John Wright who coached India from 2000-2005. Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain and Gaekwad's teammate recalled playing alongside him after he expired.

May His Soul Rest In Peace: Sunil Gavaskar on Anshuman Gaekwad

"I was privileged to play with three of the bravest cricketers in Indian cricket -- Eknath Solkar, Jimmy Amarnath, and Anshuman Gaekwad. We had heard about the bravery and guts of Nari Contractor playing with a broken rib and going on to score 81 at Lords" Gavaskar said.

"That was inspirational to budding cricketers that when it comes to playing for your country you must take all the blows and keep fighting for your team. That's exactly what Ekki, Jimmy, and Charlie as Anshuman was known, did when they donned the India cap."

"(It's) very depressing news but Charlie showed here again that he wasn't going to give his life's wicket easily and fought right till the end. May his soul rest in eternal peace," he further added.

Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs where he scored 2254 runs with 2 centuries and a top score of 201 against Pakistan in Jalandhar in 1983. Under him, Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sourav Ganguly led the Indian team.

He was the coach of the Indian team in the 1999 ODI World Cup in England. His father Datta Gaekwad also played Test Cricket for India. He was the coach of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy.

It was also under his coachship that Anil Kumble picked 10 wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan in Delhi. Meanwhile, several former Indian cricketers had their hand in raising donations as BCCI offered 1 crore for his treatment.

Dev, alongside former cricket legends such as Mohinder Amarnath, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandeep Patil, Dilip Vengsarkar, Madan Lal, Ravi Shastri, and Kirti Azad, worked towards raising funds For Gaekwad's treatment.

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