Ramakant Achrekar, the celebrated cricket coach credited for discovering master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, died on Wednesday in Mumbai. He was 87 and, according to a family member, had been battling old age-related ailments for the past few days.
“He (Archrekar Sir) is no more with us. He passed away this evening,” his kin Rashmi Dalvi told PTI.
The BCCI expresses its deepest sympathy on the passing of Dronacharya award-winning guru Shri Ramakant Achrekar. Not only did he produce great cricketers, but also trained them to be fine human beings. His contribution to Indian Cricket has been immense. pic.twitter.com/mK0nQODo6b
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 2, 2019
Achrekar competed in just one first-class match in his playing career but discovered and shaped the biggest batsman in international cricket after Sir Donald Bradman in Tendulkar. Tendulkar, who is now retired, owns almost all the batting records that were there for the taking in the game, including the highest runs in Tests (15,921) and ODIs (18,426).
Ramakant Achrekar was bestowed the Padmashri award in 2010. Besides Tendulkar, he also coached some prominent players in Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre, Sameer Dighe and Balwinder Singh Sandhu.