Former India opener, noted coach and curator Sudhir Naik passes away, aged 78
New Delhi, Apr 5: Former India opener Sudhir Naik, who played three Test matches in 1974, died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday after brief illness, confirmed Mumbai Cricket Association sources.
He was 78 and is survived by his daughter.
"Recently, he fell on bathroom floor and sustained a head injury after which he was admitted to a Mumbai hospital. He slipped into a coma and never recovered," a MCA source, who regularly tracked his health updates, told PTI.
Naik was an immensely respected figure in the Mumbai cricket circles and a Ranji Trophy-winning captain when he led the team to blue-riband glory in the 1970-71 season.
Naik's leadership was highly commended as Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy that season without stars like Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Ashok Mankad.
As irony would have it, when the 1972 Ranji season started, Naik was dropped from playing XI as the main batters were back in the squad.
In 1974, he went on a fateful tour of England and made his debut in the Birmingham Test where he got his only half-century (77) in the second innings in a losing cause.
He played 85 first class games and scored nearly 4500 runs (4376) at an average of 35 plus and seven hundred including a double ton.
He, however, suffered a lot as the erstwhile BCCI in 1970s was very weak in stature and filled with subservient creatures who didn't protest when he was wrongly accused of stealing two pairs of socks at a London departmental store.
In fact, Gavaskar had written in his book 'Sunny Days' that Naik shouldn't have pleaded guilty in front of the magistrate and should have been given a good lawyer to fight the false accusation that tarnished his reputation.
He was a tough character and just after the incident scored the gritty Test half-century. But in the days of musical chair in Indian cricket, his international career didn't last beyond 1974.
He did play an active role in later years as a coach and was a big influence in Zaheer Khan's career as he brought him to play cricket in Mumbai and provided him with requisite exposure
He was also a chairman of Mumbai selection committee and in later years worked as a curator of Wankhede Stadium free of cost.
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Ind vs Ban: Rain washes out Day 2 of 2nd Test
Kanpur, Sep 28: The second day of the second Test between India and Bangladesh was on Saturday called off without a ball being bowled due to persistent downpour.
The drizzle in the morning turned into heavy rain, not letting the action begin on day two at Green Park Stadium.
The groundsmen put the three super soppers to work around 11:15 am after the rain stopped. The visibility was also poor.
As conditions did not improve, the second day's play was called off officially at 2:15pm.
As per the weather forecast, the city is expected to receive rain even on Sunday but Monday and Tuesday are likely to be sunny and warm. In that scenario, the match seems to be headed for a draw.
Bangladesh had ended the rain-curtailed opening day at 107 for three as only 35 overs could be bowled.
India pacer Akash Deep accounted for Bangladeshi openers -- Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam -- while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin sent back rival skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto.
India are leading the two-match series 1-0, having won the Chennai Test by 280 runs.
