Sudhir Naik demise: Former opener of Indian team passed away, cricket world mourned

Posted on 6th Apr 2023 by rohit kumar

Sudhir Naik, the former opener of the Indian team and coach of Zaheer Khan, died in a hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. The death of Naik, who played three Test matches for India in 1974, has been confirmed by sources in the Mumbai Cricket Association. Sudhir Naik was 78 and was living with his daughter.

 

A source in the Mumbai Cricket Association, who has regular health information about Sudhir Naik, said, 'Recently Sudhir Naik had a fall in the bathroom of his house and had a head injury. After this, he was admitted to the Mumbai hospital. He went into a coma and could not recover again. Sudhir Naik was a highly respected figure in Mumbai cricket.

 

Mumbai made champion

Naik made Mumbai the Ranji Trophy champion under his captaincy. Naik led the team to the Ranji Trophy title under his captaincy in 1970-71 when veterans like Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, and Ashok Mankad were not playing in this team. It is noteworthy that when the 1972 Ranji season began, Naik was the only one left out of the playing 11 as all the leading batsmen had returned to the team.

 

In 1974, Sudhir Naik went on a tour of England with the Indian team and made his Test debut. Naik (77) scored a half-century in the second innings in Birmingham, but could not prevent the team's defeat. He played 85 first-class games and scored 4376 runs at an average of over 35. During this, he scored seven centuries, including a double century.

 

stain on honor

However, in the 1970s, the BCCI used to be very weak and during that time Sudhir Naik was wrongly accused of stealing two pairs of socks from a London departmental store. He could not defend it. Sunil Gavaskar also wrote in his book 'Sunny Days' that Naik should not have apologized before the magistrate and should have fought with a good lawyer. His reputation was tarnished by making false allegations against Naik.

 

Sudhir Naik made a strong comeback from this shock and scored a half-century. But the international career of Naik, who was a victim of a conspiracy in Indian cricket, could not progress beyond 1974.

 

The coaching given to Zaheer Khan

Sudhir Naik started coaching after his cricket career and shaped Zaheer Khan's career. It was Naik who brought Zaheer Khan to Mumbai and gave him exposure. Zaheer Khan was a resident of Shrirampur and wanted to do engineering. Naik believed in his talent and groomed the left-arm fast bowler.

 

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