A great chapter in Indian cricket came to an end with the passing away of Ajit Wadekar on Wednesday.
Ajit Wadekar, the man who shaped some of India's biggest overseas Test series wins, passed away on Wednesday.
Ajit Wadekar will be always be remembered as the captain who led India to big Test series wins in West Indies and England in 1971. However, he was also one of the best batsmen to play for India.
In an era of endless cricket, his stats of 2,113 runs in 37 Tests may seem a little on the lesser side, but one must remember that he was the first Indian left-hander to cross 2,000 runs, and has been surpassed by only Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan in recent past.
He was also one of the best No.3 batsmen India have ever produced. He scored 1,899 runs at that position - next to only Rahul Dravid, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar and now Cheteshwar Pujara.
His domestic record does his ability more justice- he scored 15,380 runs at an averahe of 47.03 with 36 hundreds in a career that spanned 17 years.
Engineer to Cricketer via a bus ride
While he was great accumulator of runs at domestic level, he is remembered more as a leader than a batsman for the national side. It also seems that the burden ushered upon his shoulders when he was still fresh as a player at Test level affected his personal achivements.
As he told Cricket Country, Wadekar chose to become an engineer rather than a doctor because he was afraid of injections.
Another story says that Wadekar's career in cricket started by chance. The story goes that while taking a bus to Elphinstone College, he met a college senior Baloo Gupte.
Gupte told Wadekar that they needed a twelfth man for a match. Wadekar agreed and that decision would change his career.
Despite scoring heavily at domestic level, it took Wadekar several seasons to make his Test debut. He finally made his debut in 1966-67 against West Indies.
He then tasted his first success on forien soil during the tour of New Zealand at Dunedin. He then played one of his best innings the the third test at Wellington scoring 143 which was the only fifty in the innings.
India won the series 3-1 winning their first overseas tour 3-1. Wadekar scored 328 runs - the highest among Indians - at 46.85 in the series. It was not the last time he would help India win an overseas series.
The Captain
Wadekar was then apointed to lead the team. He would lead the team to their first ever Test win on West Indian soil. They also managed to win their first ever series in West Indies.
Wadekar's men then found the same succes in England. Like in West Indies, India had never won a Test in England before - let alone a series. However, Wadekar's team did the impossible.
However, when the series victory actually came he was asleep, upset after being run out. He later wrote in his autobiography “it was the greatest day of my life”.
One of the biggest leagacy of his career was that Wadekar led India to from being a 'side with talent' to one of the best sides in the world.
The high did not last long and India failed in 1974 on England tour under Wadekar. He was soon dropped. Wadekar retired immediately from all First-Class cricket.
Wadekar would serve as the manager of the Indian team in the 1990s during the time of Mohammad Azharuddin. He was one of the few Indians to represent the country as Test player, captain, coach/manager and the chairman of selectors
The Government of India honoured him with the Arjuna Award (1967) and Padmashri (1972), India's fourth highest civilian honour. He was also awarded the CK Nayudu Lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Indian cricket.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Ajit Wadekar")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}