Former cricket captain Ajit Wadekar, who led India to their first overseas Test wins in England and the West Indies, passed away today after 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 today where he was declared dead on arrival. “He had been critically unwell for sometime and was seeking treatment for the same,” read the statement from the Jaslok Hospital. The aggressive batsman was a trailblazer in Indian cricket despite a mere 37 Test appearances, leading India to triumphs in England and the West Indies in 1971. Wadekar scored 2,113 runs in his Test career, including one hundred, and was also the country’s first ODI captain. He appeared in just two matches, though.
India lost both those ODIs against England, which prompted Wadekar to retire from the international cricket in 1974. The Mumbaikar went on to serve as India’s manager in the ’90s during Mohammed Azharuddin’s captaincy. In his tenure as manager, India had finished semifinalists at the 1996 World Cup. He later went on to become the chairman of selectors as well. Wadekar is the only cricketer apart from Lala Amarnath and Chandu Borde to have served as captain, manager, and selector in Indian cricket.
But the feat that made him an icon was the Test wins in the West Indies and England. In a side that included the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, G Viswanath and Bishan Singh Bedi, Wadekar took over the captaincy from M A K Pataudi in 1971. And he immediately went on to etch his name in history books with India’s Test triumphs in England and the West Indies. Wadekar’s first-class debut was in 1958 but he could make it to the India team only in 1966 and went on to earn the reputation of being an aggressive number three batsman.
