Ajit Wadekar

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ajit Wadekar
Personal information
Full name
Ajit Laxman Wadekar
Born(1941-04-01)1 April 1941
Batsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 112)13 December 1966 v West Indies
Last Test4 July 1974 v England
ODI debut (cap 11)13 July 1974 v England
Last ODI15 July 1974 v England
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1959–1974Bombay
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 37 2 237 5
Runs scored 2,113 73 15,380 192
Batting average 31.07 73.00 47.03 63.33
100s/50s 1/14 0/1 36/84 0/2
Top score 143 67* 323 87
Balls bowled 51 – 1,622 –
Wickets 0 – 21 –
Bowling average – – 43.23 –
5 wickets in innings – – 0 –
10 wickets in match – – 0 –
Best bowling – – 2/0 –
Catches/stumpings 46/– 1/– 271/– 3/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 28 September 2012

Ajit Laxman Wadekar (pronunciation

Padmashri (1972), India's fourth highest civilian honour. In 2011, he received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour Indian board can bestow on a former player.[2]

"Vijay Balla" (trans : Victory bat) a victory memorabilia made out of concrete with names of the players of the Indian team who won the test series against England (1971) and Gary Sobers' West Indies (1970-71), present at Nehru stadium, Indore.

Early life

Born in brahmin family at Bombay,[3] Wadekar's father wished him to study Mathematics so that he could become an engineer, but Wadekar instead preferred to play cricket.[citation needed]

Career

Introduction to cricket

He made his first-class debut for

West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After that he became a part of the regular team, and went on to play 37 Test matches for India between 1966 and 1974, generally batting at number three. He was also working in State Bank of India as part-time job as at that time there was not much money in cricket and so cricket was played for hobby, maintaining the pride of the nation rather than having a luxury life or as a profession. According to Wadekar at that time 2500 Rs were paid to the players for playing each test match.[4]

Captaincy and overseas wins

Wadekar was appointed the captain of Bombay, and soon was made the

Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan. India won over five matches in the West Indies in the early 1970s, and then defeated England over three. He led India to a third successive series victory, beating England cricket team
again, 2–1 in a five-match series in 1972–73.

Wadekar continued to be the captain of the Indian team that toured England in 1974. He represented India in its first ever One Day International (ODI) game during that tour. Batting at number three, Wadekar made 67 runs, but still ended on the losing side.[5] He scored 73 runs in his ODI career at an average of 36.50 with a strike rate of 81.11.[6] Following India's dismal performance in the series, he retired from international cricket.[7] After that tour Wadekar played just one more First-class match before retiring from all forms of cricket.

Post retirement

Wadekar also served as the manager of the Indian cricket team in the 1990s, alongside captain Mohammad Azharuddin. He is one of the few Indians to represent the country as Test player, captain, coach/manager and the chairman of selectors. Lala Amarnath and Chandu Borde are the only other players to achieve this distinction.[8][9]

Death

On 15 August 2018, Wadekar died due to illness at Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai, at the age of 78.[10] On 17 August, he was cremated with full state honours in the Shivaji Park crematorium in Mumbai. Many cricketers, as well as cricket fans in large numbers, attended his funeral.[11]

Awards and honours

Wadekar was honoured with the

Padmashri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.[13] Other awards include CK Nayudu Lifetime achievement award,[7] Sportsperson of the Year,[14] and the Castrol Lifetime Achievement award.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Former India captain Ajit Wadekar dies aged 77". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. News18
    . 22 November 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2023. .... CK Nayudu lifetime achievement award, the highest honour the Indian board can bestow on a former player.
  3. ISBN 978-0-231-53993-7
    .
  4. ^ Adnan, Minhaj (14 April 2021). "Indian cricketers played for pittance until 1980s; now they roll in money". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Prudential Trophy – 1st ODI England v India". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Statistics / AL Wadekar / One-Day Internationals / Innings by innings list". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Wadekar to get BCCI lifetime achievement award". ESPNcricinfo. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  8. ^ "The many 'avatars' of Lala Amarnath". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Borde Shares Wadekar's Distinction". Rediff.com. 28 September 1999. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Ajit Wadekar: Former India captain dies aged 78". BBC Sport. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Ajit Wadekar cremated with full state honours". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  12. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India). Archived from the original
    on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. p. 151. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  14. ^ a b Subbaiah, Sunil (30 August 2012). "Year of awards for me: Ajit Wadekar". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2012.

External links

Preceded by
Indian National Test Cricket Captain

1970/71–1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Indian National Cricket Manager
September 1992 – March 1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Chairman, Selection Committee

October 1998 – September 1999 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajit_Wadekar&oldid=1200825030"