After a long fight against cancer, ex-Indian cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad died on July 31 at the age of 71. The ex-coach of the country’s national team was at London. However, he came back to Baroda last month, where he ultimately succumbed to several health issues. In his official account on X, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said:
“My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr Aunshuman Gaekwad. Heartbreaking for the entire cricket fraternity. May his soul rest in peace.”
During a span of 12 years, Gaekwad played 40 tests and 15 ODIs in which he scored 2254 runs with 2 centuries and one of his highest runs was 201 he made against Pakistan in Jalandhar in the year 1983.
Earlier, Jay Shah, the Secretary of BCCI had offered INR 1 crore, as a humanitarian gesture to assist former Indian cricketer Gaekwad. Shah reached out to Gaekwad’s family directly to show that they were in his thoughts during this trying time.
The BCCI said that they would give full support to the relatives of Gaekwad in a news release, saying that they believe in his full recovery. In March this year, it was noted by ex-cricketer Sandeep Patil how serious it is for 71-year-old Gaekwad. “He had shown great fortitude while dealing with the disease for more than one year now. He undergoes treatment in London,” Patil indicated.
RIP Anshu bhai .. terrible terrible news pic.twitter.com/cdR7FvJDf4
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 31, 2024
Gaekwad shared his financial worries with Patil. On hearing this, the ex-cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar contacted BCCI Treasurer Ashish Selar who stated that he would take care of the financial support request.
Importantly, former captain of the World Cup-winning team of 1983, Kapil Dev also came up with the plea for help for Gaekwad. Together with such other cricketer legends as Mohinder Amarnath, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandeep Patil, Dilip Vengsarkar, Madan Lal, Ravi Shastri and Kirti Azad, he raised funds to help his ailing cricket mentor.
Anshuman Gaekwad’s career as a coach
Between 1997 and 1999 and later in 2000, Gaekwad was in charge of the Indian cricket team as its head coach for two stints. Anil Kumble became the first Indian bowler to take 10 wickets in an innings of Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi; this was during his time.
Among this, India were also runners up in the 2000 Champions Trophy when he was there as a coach. In addition, Gaekwad served as a national selector in the 1990s and the president of Indian Cricketers’ Association for significant period of time.
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