Ajit Wadekar, arguably India’s best captain in the longest format of the game was born on this day (April 1) in 1941. Wadekar made his first-class debut for Bombay in 1958 and made his foray into international cricket in 1966 against the mighty West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. Wadekar represented India in 37 Test matches, scoring 2,113 runs at an average of 31.07 and also played for the Men in Blue in two ODI’s. On Ajit Wdekar’s birth anniversary, we take a look at some lesser-known facts about him. Ajit Wadekar, One of the Most Elegant Left-Handers I Have Played With: Former Indian Cricketer Erapalli Prasanna.

Born in Bombay, Wadekar captained his city’s domestic side before becoming one of India’s greatest captains. He captained the national team which won the series in West Indies and England. Under his captaincy, India won five matches in the Caribbean’s in the early 1970s and also recorded successive series wins over England.

Lesser-Known Facts About Ajit Wadekar

  • Ajit Wadekar was born on April 1, 1941, in Bombay

  • He made his first-class debut for Bombay in 1958 and for India in 1966

  • Ajit Wadekar was named as India’s Test Captain in 1971

  • Legends such as Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanathan, Farokh Engineer and Bishen Bedi made their debut for India under Wadekar

  • Sunil Gavaskar hailed Wadekar as the greatest Test captain in India of all time

  • India’s first-ever Test series win over West Indies and England came under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar

  • Ajit Wadekar captained India in their first-ever ODI game and scored 67 runs

  • He is one of three Indian’s to represent the country as a Test player, captain, coach/manager and the chairman of selectors

  • He was awarded Arjuna Award in 1967 and Padmashri in 1972

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 01, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).