Former India opening batsman and Mumbai*s 1970-71 Ranji Trophy-winning captain Sudhir Naik passed away at a city hospital on Wednesday evening. He was 78. Naik represented the country in three Tests - the Edgbaston game of the 1974 tour of England and the Delhi and Kolkata games during the home series against Clive Lloyd's West Indians in 1974-75. Naik hit the first boundary for India in ODI cricket - in the first match of the 1974 one-day series in England. On March 25, he was admitted to hospital after suffering a fall at his Dadar residence. Naik played for the country in three Tests and two ODIs in the 70s. An opening batsman, the soft-spoken Naik scored 141 in six innings, 77 in the second innings of his debut Test, against England in Birmingham in 1974, being his highest score. His last Test was the home game at the Eden Gardens against the West Indies in 1975.
Naik was also a former Mumbai captain and he had led the side to the Ranji Trophy in 1971, when most of Mumbai stalwarts, including Sunil Gavaskar and Ajit Wadekar, were involved in the historic away series win against the West Indies. Naik was also the chief curator of Wankhede Stadium for a long time."Shocked and saddened. He made an all-round contribution to the game, apart from representing the country. He served as a chairman of Mumbai selection committee and was also a part of the Managing Committee of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). He was a very knowledgeable curator and his single most contribution was preparing the Wankhede for the 2011 World Cup which he did when many of us had given up hope. His National Cricket Club is a champion side in the local Mumbai league and many India cricketers, including Zaheer Khan, Nilesh Kulkarni and Wasim Jaffer, had played for it and steadfastly stayed loyal to it," Prof Ratnakar Shetty, a former BCCI CAO, who had worked with Naik, said
