Ramakant Vitthal Achrekar (1932 – 2 January 2019) was an Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

coach from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. He was most famous for coaching young cricketers at

Shivaji Park Shivaji Park, officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, is a public park situated in Dadar, Mumbai. It is the largest park in the island city. Similar but bigger in size to Azad Maidan and Gowalia Tank, August Kranti Maidan (formerly Gowal ...

Dadar Dadar (Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪aːd̪əɾ is a densely populated residential and shopping neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also a prominent railway and bus service hub with local and national connectivity. It is Mumbai's first planned area and i ...

, Mumbai, most notably

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

. He had also been a selector for the Mumbai cricket team. He also won the Dronacharya Award in 1990 and

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2010

Early life and career

Ramakant Vitthal Achrekar was born in 1932. His playing career was not as distinguished as his coaching career. He started playing cricket in 1943. In 1945, he played club cricket for New Hind Sports Club. He also played for Young Maharashtra XI, Gul Mohar Mills and Mumbai Port. He played in only one

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

match, for

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against Hyderabad in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament in 1963. His life and his inspiring career have been documented by journalist Kunal Purandare in the biography, ''Ramakant Achrekar: Master Blaster's Master''. The book has garnered critical praise from various publications, including the Wisden India Almanack.

Coaching career

He founded Kamath Memorial Cricket Club at

. He coached and nurtured numerous cricketers, including the

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

players

Ajit Agarkar Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (; born 4 December 1977) is a former Indian cricketer and commentator. He has been the current chairman of the BCCI selection committee since 4 July 2023. He has represented India in more than 200 international matche ...

, Chandrakant Pandit,

Vinod Kambli Vinod Kambli (; born 18 January 1972) is an Indian former international International cricket, cricketer, who played for India national cricket team, India as a left-handed middle order batsman, as well as for Mumbai cricket team, Mumbai and Bo ...

, Ramesh Powar and Pravin Amre. He devoted himself in coaching to raising the standard of Indian cricket. The club is currently run by his daughter Vishakha Dalvi and Kalpana Murkar, grandson Soham Dalvi and Pradosh Mayekar, he was also a legend in 1945 cricket. It was Ajit Tendulkar (Sachin Tendulkar's elder brother) who took Sachin Tendulkar to Ramakant Achrekar's Cricket Summer camp to improve his batting skills. Anyone could come for a trial at the camp and then, it was Achrekar's discretion to admit or reject the candidate. Sachin Tendulkar had never batted at the nets before and felt somewhat overawed with so many people around. And when Achrekar asked him to bat, he was not at all comfortable. With Achrekar looking at him closely, he failed to make an impact and was a disappointment. Soon after he had finished batting, Achrekar called Ajit aside and informed him that he(Sachin) was perhaps too young to make to the camp and he should bring Sachin back when he was a little older. Ajit mentioned to Achrekar that Sachin was nervous and that he should give Sachin one more opportunity in 30 minutes time. However, while doing so, Achrekar should pretend to go away and look at his batting from a distance. He agreed and things changed. Sachin was asked to bat again in some time and without Achrekar's trained eyes scrutinizing him, he was at ease. He soon started to hit the ball well and Achrekar immediately agreed to let him join the camp.

Illness and death

Ramakant Achrekar died on January 2, 2019, due to the old-age ailments. Numerous famous cricket personalities including

were present for the funeral.

Awards and recognition

* In 1990, he was honoured with Dronacharya Award for his services to cricket coaching. * In 2010, he was conferred with

, one of the country's highest civilian awards in sports category at the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana''; ; formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950)) is the official residence of the President of the Republic of India at the western end of Rajpath, Rai ...

in New Delhi on 7 April 2010 by the then Indian President

Pratibha Patil Pratibha Devisingh Patil (born 19 December 1934), also known as Pratibha Patil Shekhawat, is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2007 to 2012. She was the first woman to become the president of India. A m ...

. * In 2010, on 12 February, he was awarded the 'Lifetime Achievement' award by Gary Kirsten, the then coach of the Indian Cricket Team. This award was part of the awards given away for various categories in sports by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''.

References

External links