Sudhir Naik (1945-2023) was an Indian cricketer who is understood for taking part in the Ranji Trophy for Bombay within the 70s.
Wiki/Biography
Sudhir Sakharam Naik was born on Wednesday, 21 February 1945 (age 78 years; on the time of loss of life) in Tardeo, Bombay Presidency, British India. His zodiac signal was Pisces. He pursued MSc in Natural Chemistry at Ruparel Faculty, Mumbai. When he was a baby, he used to play with children from Tardeo’s Chikkalwadi with a desk tennis ball. He additionally used to pester animals along with his buddies. When he was at school 10, his elder brother advised him to start out taking teaching below Vinoo Mankad. When he was in class, he all the time studied when he was not enjoying cricket. On excursions, he used to hold his books and examine each time he received time. He used to review at 5 within the morning and observe through the day. His first dream was to not change into a cricketer however to change into the boss of an organization. In an interview, he mentioned that at the moment there was no cash in cricket due to this he even utilized for an engineering diploma and received admission to VJTI (Veermata Jeejabai Technological Institute) in Mumbai earlier than he determined to change into a chemist. He dropped the concept of changing into an engineer after former cricketer Madhav Apte advised him that he wouldn’t get time to play cricket if he selected to change into an engineer.

Sudhir Naik when he was younger
bodily look
Top (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Color: Grey (Semi Bald)
Eye Color: Black
Household
Dad and mom & Siblings
There may be not a lot info accessible about his mother and father. He had 9 siblings.
Spouse & Youngsters
Sudhir was married to Vasundhara Pendse Naik, who was an creator. She died a couple of years earlier than Sudhir’s loss of life. Their daughter’s identify is Radhika Deshpande who lives in Melbourne.
profession
Home Cricket
Sudhir used to play for the Mumbai cricket group. After taking admission to Bombay College, he turned the captain of the group. He was additionally the captain of the Tata Oil Mills group the place he used to work. In 1967 and 1968, he was the one captain to win the Police Defend Match and Mahindra Defend Match for 2 consecutive years at Bombay College. Throughout his commencement, he was chosen for Mumbai’s junior squad and the senior group. In response to Sudhir, in 1970, just one group was allowed to play within the knock-out rounds. Earlier than 1970, Bombay received towards Maharashtra after which Maharashtra proposed to the BCCI to permit two groups from every group to play within the knock-out. BCCI agreed to the provide and in 1971, Maharashtra stood at number one and Bombay got here on quantity two within the West Zone. In 1970-71, his efficiency within the match led Bombay to win the Ranji Trophy even when gamers like Sunil Gavaskar and Ajit Wadekar weren’t a part of the squad. Within the 1972 Ranji season, he was not included within the enjoying squad. In an interview, he talked about this and mentioned,
I used to be dropped for the knockouts. I had good scores and it was positively unfair. It was politics performed by a few of our personal senior gamers. They had been afraid that if Sudhir performs within the knock-outs, he might get chosen for India and we might exit. That was soiled politics. However that is half and parcel of the sport.”
Within the 1973-94 Ranji Trophy season, he scored 2687 runs (40.10) towards Baroda. The rating turned the best rating of 200 not out. He scored 4376 runs in 85 First-Class matches with seven hundred and 27 fifties in his home profession.

Sudhir Naik in batting motion
Worldwide Cricket
Sudhir made his ODI debut on 13 July 1974 towards England at Leeds. He made his take a look at debut on 4 July- 8 July 1974 towards England at Birmingham. In 1974, he performed three Take a look at matches and two One Day Internationals for the Indian cricket group. In 1974, he was a part of India’s tour of England and was the opening batsman. He didn’t play within the first and second take a look at matches even when he was the best scorer in all of the tour video games. Within the match that he performed, he scored 77 runs within the second innings, however India didn’t win the match. His rating turned the best rating, and he turned the person of the match. In 1974, he turned a part of the Indian group and performed the ultimate Take a look at at Edgbaston. Within the match, he scored 730 runs (40.55). In a One-day Worldwide match in England, he scored 18 runs from 29 balls together with the primary 4 for the group.
Curator
In 1984-85, he was part of the Mumbai choice committee and labored as a chief selector and managing committee member. In 2005, he began working as a floor in cost on the Wankhede Cricket Stadium and used to care for the wicket and the outfield earlier than the matches. In 2011, earlier than the World Cup on the Wankhede Cricket Floor in Mumbai, he ready the pitch for the event. He used to organize the grounds and pitches of the west zone within the capability of West Zone In-charge of BCCI’s Floor and Pitch Committee. In 2016, he retired because the curator and floor in control of the Wankhede Cricket Stadium after he was criticized by Ravi Shastri as a result of the pitch was not batsman-friendly. In an interview, he mentioned that he couldn’t take the issues Shastri advised him as a result of he was 70 years outdated and had some pleasure.

Sudhir Naik as the bottom in-charge discussing in regards to the pitch
Demise
Sudhir was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai on 24 March 2023 when he had a head harm after he fell down in his residence in Dadar. He died on 5 March 2023 as a result of he couldn’t recuperate from the harm. After his loss of life, Zaheer Khan expressed his condolences on his loss of life and mentioned,
A day after he was hospitalized, I went and noticed him. He was responding to the therapy. He acknowledged me and tried speaking to me. I had a little bit of a dialog with him. Realizing the persona that I’ve seen through the years, I hoped he would battle by this. But it surely wasn’t to be. On Sunday night time, he turned crucial, and we had been advised that the following 72 hours can be crucial. Whereas we had been hoping for his restoration, all by this time, I’ve been recalling my innumerable conversations with him as quickly as I moved to Mumbai.”
Details/Trivia
- He was a right-hand batsman.
- Aside from cricket, he used to work as an natural chemist.
- After 1974, he didn’t play cricket however began teaching at his personal Nationwide Cricket Membership, Mumbai. He coached cricketers like Zaheer Khan, Wasim Jaffer, Rajesh Pawar, Raju Sutar and Paras Mhambrey.
Sudhir Naik with Zaheer Khan
- In 1975, he performed his final Take a look at at Eden Gardens towards the West Indies.
- His college students within the membership referred to him as James after James Bond.
- In an interview, former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar mentioned that Sudhir was an easy particular person.
- Within the Seventies, throughout his tour to England, he was falsely accused of stealing two pairs of socks at a London departmental retailer. In an interview, he mentioned that BCCI didn’t help him in any respect as a result of, at the moment, BCCI was not very sturdy. He suffered quite a bit due to the incident. Within the e book ‘Sunny Days,’ Sunil Gavaskar talked in regards to the incident and mentioned that Naik would haven’t felt the humiliation if he was given higher attorneys to show him harmless. Nonetheless, after the incident occurred to him, he scored a half-century in a take a look at match. In an interview, former Mumbai captain, Milind Rege talked in regards to the incident and mentioned that Sudhir’s self-respect was so large that he would put on torn gloves however would by no means ask anyone for spare gloves.
- In one other interview, Milind Rege remembered the time spent with Sudhir and mentioned after they used to play, they traveled collectively to Ranji Trophy video games with their kits in a taxi. They used to spend half of the day collectively as a result of they lived shut to one another’s home and practiced collectively. He additionally mentioned that Sudhir was an amazing captain. Within the interview, he additional mentioned,
He was extraordinarily sound tactically. That was his plus level. He knew his discipline placement, he knew the temperament of his gamers. Sudhir would by no means rebuke us on the sector. He by no means advised us, “ Kya kar raha hai? Barabar se bowling nahi ho raha hai (What are you doing? You aren’t bowling correctly)… He would put his arm round us and be very cool and calm. In that remaining of 1970-71, we had been all children – most of us had been in our early 20s – apart from Vijay Bhosale and Padmakar Shivalkar. We had been simply uncooked skills and he captained the group marvelously. He was an amazing chief.”
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