Vasudeo Paranjape, the former Mumbai cricketer, passed away on Monday (August 30), aged 82. Paranjape played 29 first-class matches for Mumbai and Baroda in a career spanning from 1956 to 1970 - a period when all the Ranji Trophy titles were shared between the two teams, with Mumbai winning 12 times. Paranjape, in his first-class career, scored 785 runs at an average of 23.78 and picked up nine wickets.
His highest first-class score of 127 came against Baroda in the 1964-65 Ranji season. But more significantly, he mentored and coached several other prominent cricketers emerging from the city, including Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Rohit Sharma, among others.He was also one of the most prominent players in Mumbai's local cricket, representing the star-studded Dadar Union - one of the strongest sides in the city during his playing days. He was instrumental in shaping the careers of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. He gave the nickname Sunny to Sunil Gavaskar. He was the father of former Indian cricketer and selection committee member Jatin Paranjape.
