Former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar, who led the country to its historic maiden series wins in England and West Indies in 1971, passed away after a prolonged illness in Mumbai last week. He was 77. A stylish left-hander from Mumbai, he was one of the finest No 3 batsmen India has produced, and the first Indian captain to notch up three Test series victories in a row. Post a disastrous tour of England in 1974, in which India lost all the three Tests, he was forced into retirement. He became the manager of the Indian team in the nineties. Wadekar, who made his debut in 1966 at Mumbai against West Indies went on to play 31 Tests, scoring one hundred and 14 fifties
before calling it quits in 1974. Interestingly, it was former India captain Vijay Merchant’s casting vote as chairman of the selection committee which ended MAK Pataudi’s long reign as India captain and handed over the reins to Wadekar in January 1971. After being away from the sport for some time, Wadekar was appointed as the coach for India’s historic tour of South Africa in 1992.
