Former India cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad, who has served the game in different capacities after his retirement as a player, died on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 71. Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India. Gaekwad, who was also a former India coach and national selector, was undergoing treatment for blood cancer at the King’s College Hospital in London before returning back to the country last month. The BCCI gave Rs 1 crore for Gaekwad’s treatment and members of the 1983 World Cup-winning team also did their bit to help the cricketer.

Gaekwad has also played 205 first-class matches in a career spanning 22 years.

He later took over as coach of the Indian team. His glorious moments came at Sharjah in 1998 and in a Test match at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi when Anil Kumble took all 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan in 1999.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to offer his condolences.

“Shri Anshuman Gaekwad Ji will be remembered for his contribution to cricket. He was a gifted player and an outstanding coach. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” PM Modi tweeted.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah also paid his tribute to the late cricketer.

“My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr Aunshuman Gaekwad. Heartbreaking for the entire cricket fraternity. May his soul rest in peace,” Shah wrote on ‘X’.

A gritty opening batter, he was known for his dogged defense with a very high back lift. Between 1974 and 1984, he was involved in the game of musical chair with Chetan Chauhan for the role of second opener to partner Sunil Gavaskar in the Indian team.

A genial personality, he scored a double hundred against Imran Khan’s Pakistan, which was one of the slowest double tons of that time. The match was played at Jalandhar.

A bespectacled opener, Gaekwad’s finest hour came while facing a young Michael Holding and Wayne Daniel at Sabina Park in Jamaica in the 1976 series.

Holding’s beamer hit him on the ear and as he lay smeared in blood, home team supporters were shouting from the tree top “Kill him Maaan..Kill him Mikey”, something Gavaskar termed as Barbarism.

Later he was coach of the Indian team between 1998 and 1999 and Kumble’s 10-for at Kotla happened with him in charge of the team.

Young Harbhajan Singh made his Test debut under him and always spoke with reverence about ‘Angshu sir’ for the manner in which he carried himself.

He also served as national selector, headed the Baroda Cricket Association and just before he fell ill, he was the BCCI Apex Council member as an ICA representative.

Cricket legends such as Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, former India coach Ravi Shastri, Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Farokh Engineer, ex-India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar, BCCI president Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath, Sandeep Patil, Karsan Ghavri, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and actor Nana Patekar have all shared encouraging words to cheer up Gaekwad before he breathed his last.

As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced an enormous Rs. 125 crore reward for the victorious Indian team after their 2024 T20 World Cup win, calls have been made to fund the treatment of ailing former Indian cricketer and head coach Anshuman Gaekwad. Gaekwad, who coached India across two spells during the late 1990s, is currently battling blood cancer at the King’s College Hospital in London, at the age of 71. Former BCCI chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, who played alongside Gaekwad, has been loudest in urging the BCCI to step in.

“Anshuman Gaekwad told me that he has received financial support from the cricket board, but more financial support is needed,” wrote Sandeep Patil in his column on Mid-Day.

Patil revealed that a conversation with BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar regarding the issue has already been had, and assurance has also been provided.

“In this regard, former cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar and I had a conversation with Cricket Board Treasurer Ashish Shelar. We called Ashish Shelar from the car after seeing Anshuman Gaekwad in the hospital,” wrote Patil.

“Ashish Shelar instantly said he would look into ours and other former cricketers’ requests for funds. I’m sure he will facilitate this and, at the risk of sounding macabre, save Anshu’s life. Any cricketer from any country should be helped by his Board, but Anshu’s case must be taken up on priority and treated as paramount,” wrote Patil.

Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India between 1974 and 1987. Notably, he was head coach of India between 1997 and 1999 in his first stint, and then took over after the infamous match-fixing scandal. During his second stint, India finished runners-up to New Zealand in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy (later known as the Champions Trophy).

In his column, Patil also referred to the fact that Sachin Tendulkar had been in his best form during Gaekwad’s tenure as head coach.