Dilip Narayan Sardesai is one of India’s greatest cricketer’s. A legend who upheld the glory of the game and went on to become a leading batsman against spin attack.
Today, on his 78th birth anniversary, Google honours the legend by dedicating a doodle in his name.
His cricketing career spanned 10 years in which he scored more than 10,000 first class runs. He played for the Mumbai Ranji team and then for the Indian cricket team.
Early career
Born in Goa in 1940, Sardesai attended the New Era High School and later moved to Mumbai, where he completed his education at Wilson College.
His cricketing experience started young and very soon, he started playing for the Mumbai University. He was noticed by the selectors and made his international debut against England in Kanpur.
Achievements by Dilip Sardesai
In 1963-64, Sardesai scored 449 runs against England across all the matches.
In 1965, he opened and scored 200 not out against New Zealand, which not only saved India from a big defeat.
He followed it up with 106 in the next Test in Delhi, to give him 359 runs in four Tests.
His greatest success came against West Indies in 1971, when he scored 642 runs, including three centuries. His highest was a double century of 212 runs.
Known as Indian cricket’s ‘renaissance man’, he was the first Indian to score a double century overseas.
Dilip Sardesai played his last match against England in 1967. Unfortunately, he fell down the stairs in an early match at Lord’s, and then suffered a hand injury.
Sardesai breathed his last on 2nd July, 2007, after he was admitted to Bombay Hospital following a chest infection.
He is survived by his wife, Nandini, who is a sociologist and a member of the Indian Censor Board for motion pictures. His son, Rajdeep Sardesai is a prominent journalist. And his daughter, Shonali, is a senior social scientist at the World Bank in Washington.