Anshuman Gaekwad, a former Indian cricket player and coach, passed away on July 31 at the age of 71 at the Bhailal Amin General Hospital in Vadodara after a protracted fight with blood cancer.
After it was discovered that Gaekwad was having trouble paying for his medical care in London, the Board of Control for Cricket in India recently approved INR 1 crore to support his medical care. After that, he was brought back to India and treated further at Vadodara.
Anshuman Gaekwad was a solid top-order batsman in his prime who was renowned for his tenacity and resolve against pacers as well as his unwavering bravery against strong pace attacks.
It is possible that it was this last quality that helped him break through for the squad. He spent more than 11 hours at the wicket during his career-defining innings of 201 against Pakistan, demonstrating extraordinary levels of patience and focus.
With a career average of 30.07 and two hundreds and ten fifties in 40 Test matches, Gaekwad played for India. Even more remarkable were his First Class career totals, which included almost 12,000 runs at an average of over 40, 34 hundreds, 47 fifties, and 160 catches.
Gaekwad became a coach after quitting all forms of cricket in 1992, and he quickly took charge of the men’s national squad, leading them from 1997 to 1999. But the national team did not win any major tournaments during this time, which forced him to retire and be replaced by 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev.
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In 2009, Gaekwad turned down a full-time position with the Kenyan men’s national team due to personal concerns. He also had a brief stint with the club. In 2018, the BCCI presented him with the Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in appreciation of his services to cricket.
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