Renowned cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar, who was instrumental in shaping the career of batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, and Ajit Agarkar, among others, died on Wednesday in Mumbai, aged 87.
Achrekar was conferred with the Dhronacharya Award in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2010 by the Indian government. The veteran’s methods have earned him widespread praise as he mentored a long line of Mumbai cricketers in their formative years before making their international debuts.
Achrekar was most famous as Tendulkar’s coach. The batting legend and former India captain, on multiple occasions, had underlined the importance of Achrekar in his life. Tendulkar had started training with Achrekar in Mumbai at the age of 11.
After his death on Wednesday, Twitter saluted one of the Mumbai cricket maidans’ famous sons.