The year was 1971. Team India notched its first win in the Caribbean under Ajit Wadekar. Sunil Gavaskar made his impressive Test debut, hitting a double century and two centuries. But, there was another batsman whose contribution was also instrumental in India creating cricketing history. His name was Dilip Sardesai.
Born on August 8, 1940 in Margao, Goa, Sardesai was the mainstay of the Indian middle order batting in the 1970s, combining sound technique and footwork -- that made him one of the finest players against spin bowling.
The prolific scorer first came to national attention with a superb 87 for Combined Universities against the visiting Pakistan team in 1960-1961 on his first class debut.
A right-handed batsman with a solid defence, the stocky player was a very good driver of the ball and notched over 10,000 runs in his first-class career spanning nearly 12 years at a healthy average of 41.75, inclusive of 25 centuries.
Sardesai, one of the fulcrums around which the Indian batting revolved, played 30 Tests between 1960 and 1973, at an average of 39.23 with five hundreds to his credit. He played in the middle order mostly, but he also opened at times.
During the 15 years he played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, the team never lost a single match in the premier domestic competition. Even after retirement, he never shirked from helping youngsters.
Sardesai, the true son of Indian cricket, passed away on July 2, 2007 of multiple-organ failure. He is survived by his wife, his son, noted television journalist Rajdeep, and a daughter, who is in the US.
Photograph: Rediff Archives
Also read: Dilip Sardesai interview
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