Former India opener Sudhir Naik, who performed three Test matches in 1974, died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday after transient sickness, confirmed Mumbai Cricket Association sources. He was 78 and is survived by his daughter. “Recently, he fell on bathroom floor and sustained a head injury after which he was admitted to a Mumbai hospital. He slipped into a coma and never recovered,” a MCA supply, who often tracked his well being updates, instructed PTI.

Naik was an immensely revered determine within the Mumbai cricket circles and a Ranji Trophy-winning captain when he led the staff to blue-riband glory within the 1970-71 season.

Naik’s management was extremely counseled as Mumbai gained the Ranji Trophy that season with out stars like Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Ashok Mankad.

As irony would have it, when the 1972 Ranji season began, Naik was dropped from taking part in XI as the principle batters had been again within the squad.

In 1974, he went on a fateful tour of England and made his debut within the Birmingham Test the place he received his solely half-century (77) within the second innings in a dropping trigger.

He performed 85 firstclass video games and scored almost 4500 runs (4376) at a mean of 35 plus and 7 hundred together with a double ton.

He, nonetheless, suffered lots because the erstwhile BCCI in Nineteen Seventies was very weak in stature and crammed with subservient creatures who did not protest when he was wrongly accused of stealing two pairs of socks at a London departmental retailer.

In truth, Sunil Gavaskar had written in his guide ‘Sunny Days’ that Naik should not have pleaded responsible in entrance of the Justice of the Peace and will have been given an excellent lawyer to combat the false accusation that tarnished his fame.

He was a tricky character and simply after the incident scored the gritty Test half-century. But within the days of musical chair in Indian cricket, his worldwide profession did not final past 1974.

He did play an energetic position in later years as a coach and was a giant affect in Zaheer Khan‘s profession as he introduced him to play cricket in Mumbai and supplied him with requisite publicity.

Zaheer was from a small city referred to as Sreerampore and needed to pursue engineering. It was Naik’s perception in his expertise and his persistence that made Zaheer keep again in Mumbai and honed his expertise on the iconic Cross Maidan.

He was additionally a boss of Mumbai choice committee and in later years labored as a curator of Wankhede Stadium freed from value.

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