Cricketer Sachin: Former Mumbai cricketer Sachin Deshmukh died due to Covid-19
Mumbai's cricketing fraternity suffered a blow when former local cricketer Sachin Deshmukh succumbed to Covid-19, at 2.57pm at Thane's Vedant Hospital on Tuesday. He was 52. In his playing days, Deshmukh made it to the Ranji Trophy squads of both Mumbai and Maharashtra but couldn't find a place in the XI.
Former Mumbai cricketer Sachin Deshmukh has died of Corona virus. He breathed his last on Tuesday at Vedanta Hospital in Thane. He was 52 years old. According to his friends, he refused to be admitted to the hospital even though he had a fever for several days. After 9 days it is revealed that he has a corona.
"He scored three hundreds - 183, 130 and 110 - in five innings under my captaincy for the Maharashtra under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy in November 1986. He was a hard-hitting batsman. We grew up together," Deshmukh's close friend Abhijit Deshpande, who played with him since the inter-school level and is an ex-Maharashtra Ranji player, told TOI from Pune.
Deshmukh was a brilliant cricketer. In his time, he was included in the Ranji team for both Mumbai and Maharashtra. But he did not get a chance in the playing XI. A newspaper quoted his friend Abhijeet Deshpande as saying that Sachin Deshmukh had made a run in the 1986 Cooch Vihar Trophy under his captaincy.
He scored 3 centuries in five innings, which included innings of 183, 130 and 110. Abhijeet played school cricket with him. Deshmukh these days worked as a superintendent in the Excise and Customs department in Mumbai.
Deshmukh was a Superintendent of Excise and Customs in Mumbai, now known as GST and Customs. He set a unique record for seven consecutive centuries in batting for the University of Pune in the All India Inter University tournament in the 90s. A brilliant middle order batsman, Deshmukh played for Dadar Parsi Zoroastrian Cricket Club, Mahindra in local cricket. He also played for the Mumbai Police in Police Shield.
"He was a gifted, talented cricketer. He used to tell me that Madhav Mantri (former India wicketkeeper) used to like him a lot. Unfortunately though, he never got a chance to play for Mumbai," Deshmukh's close friend Ramesh Vazge, a former managing committee member of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) told TOI on Wednesday. "His death is a message to us that no one should take this disease lightly. He had fever, but refused to get himself admitted to the hospital.
After his superb show for Pune University, he played for the All-India Universities team against the visiting West Indies side. He was such a fantastic batsman that he was referred to as 'mini-Gavaskar' in local cricket. However, injuries prevented him from growing further in his career," said Iqbal Shaikh, ex-MCA managing committee member. "His untimely death has shocked me. He was a great human-being, who used to help a lot of Mumbai cricketers. He was like a 'Godfather' to young cricketers in the city," said MCA Apex Council member Nadim Memon.
Deshmukh is survived by his wife Smita, son Harshal (16) and a daughter Shivani (20).
