Google Doodle today has a special gift for Dilip Sardesai, on his 78th birth anniversary. The doodle has a man donning the whites and hitting the ball out of the park. Born in Goa, Dilip Sardesai has been the only cricketer from the state to represent India. Antao D’Souza who was born in Goa played for Pakistan. Known for his outspoken attitude, Sardesai oozed confidence even on the field. We all know the incident when Sardesai walked up to captain Vijay Merchant (who believed in youth policy) asking him the reason for being dropped. 30-year-old Sardesai asked Merchant to not come up with useless explanations.

Sunil Gavaskar had once in his book Sunny Day wrote, “He showed us how to play fast bowling, and in doing so gave us the confidence we needed to beat the West Indies.” He was active between 1961 and 1972 and played 30 matches for India. Scoring 2001 runs, Sardesai earned the tag “Renaissance Man of Indian cricket.”

Sardesai is still remembered for being the mastermind for defeating the mighty West Indies in 1971. The Indian suffered defeats against Barbados and Guyana, but Sardesai stood tall and scored 642 runs in the series, which also included f 212 in the Test match at Kingston, Jamaica. He was also a part of the team who defeated England for the first time in 1971.

Check out the video below:

It was on July 2 2007 that the cricketer passed away in Mumbai. While speaking about his father, Rajdeep Sardesai said, “I was told he was terrific against spin. “He wasn’t the greatest fielder but he was always someone who was ready for a fight.” Team Latestly wishes the late cricketer a very happy birthday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2018 10:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).