Sardesai's death a great loss: Pawar

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar expressed his deep sorrow at the passing away of former Test batsman Dilip Sardesai and said it is an irreparable loss to Mumbai and Indian cricket.

"Dilip Sardesai was one of the most popular Indian cricketers who served Mumbai for a number of years. One cannot forget his passion for Mumbai cricket, particularly young cricketers and his encouragement to them," said Pawar, who is also the Mumbai Cricket Association chief, in a statement.

"Sardesai's death is a great loss to Mumbai and Indian cricket," Pawar added.

• Tributes: 'Sardesai was a delight to watch'

Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh also expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased cricketer from the US where he's gone on a ten-day visit.

"Sardesai was a stylish batsman and combined aggression and style," he said.

Former captain Nari Contractor expressed shock over the death of Sardesai whom he described as a very dear friend.

"In fact it was only on Tuesday last that I and Rajbhai [former BCCI chief Raj Singh Dungarpur] had visited him at the Bombay hospital. I later spoke to his wife [Nandini] on Thursday and everything seemed fine," the former Test opener said.

"I have never captained Dilip at the Test level as on the 1961-62 tour of the West Indies I had to return home because of my injury [skull] and he played later [under Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi]," he said.

Contractor praised Sardesai as a very courageous batsman who "set out to do what was asked of him and did a pretty good job of it".

"In fact he played a very crucial role in India's Test series win in the West Indies [1971] when the chips were down", he recalled about Sardesai's splendid rear-guard action with fellow-Mumbaikar, late Eknath Solkar, in that series which rescued the Indian innings time and again.

"He was very outspoken and that's the reason he could not fit much in cricket management. He was blunt [in his opinion] which was not to the liking of some. But as a Mumbai selector he was the one who used to watch all the matches", Contractor recalled.

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said Sardesai's death is a sad loss for Indian cricket.

"It's really sad. He has scored heavily for India and served the team with distinction for well over a decade," Vengsarkar said.

Sardesai's former teammate Abbas Ali Baig recalled the days when he used to share room with the batsman while playing abroad.

"We often shared rooms on tours. He was an excellent company and of course a fabulous batsman. Indian cricket will miss him a lot," Baig said.