Former Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadekar passed away on August 15, 2018 after a prolonged illness. He was 77.
Wadekar is survived by his wife Rekha, two sons and a daughter. He was brought to a hospital in South Mumbai where he was declared dead on arrival. The official statement from the hospital read that he had been critically unwell for some time and was seeking treatment for the same.
• In a side that included cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, G Viswanath and Bishan Singh Bedi, Wadekar took over the captaincy from M A K Pataudi in 1971. |
About Ajit Wadekar
• Ajit Laxman Wadekar was an Indian cricketer who played for the Indian national cricket team between 1966 and 1974. He made his first-class debut in 1958, before making his debut in international cricket in 1966.
• The aggressive batsman was a trailblazer in Indian cricket despite just 37 Test appearances.
• The feat that made him an icon was when he captained team India to their first overseas Test wins in England and the West Indies in 1971.
• In ODIs, he captained India in just two matches and India lost both those ODIs against England, which prompted Wadekar to retire from international cricket in 1974.
• Overall, Wadekar scored 2,113 runs in his Test career, including one hundred and 14 half centuries, four of those being 90-plus scores.
• Following his retirement from cricket, he went on to serve as India's manager in the 90s during Mohammed Azharuddin's captaincy.
• In his tenure as manager, India finished as semifinalists in the 1996 World Cup. He later went on to become the chairman of selectors.
• He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1967 and Padmashri in 1972, India's fourth highest civilian honour.
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