Batting great Sandeep Patil has hailed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for announcing a prize money of ₹125 crore for the Rohit Sharma-led India after they won the 2024 T20 World Cup and urged the board to similarly provide funds to assist ailing former player and coach Anshuman Gaekwad. Gaekwad has been battling blood cancer for the past one year and Patil said that he had visited the 71-year-old at the King’s College Hospital in London. Patil further said that Gaekwad informed him of his need for funds for his treatment at the time.

“Anshu told me that he needs funds for his treatment. Soon, Dilip Vengsarkar and me spoke to BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar. In fact, our calls were made to Ashish Shelar after seeing Anshu at King’s College Hospital in London. Ashish Shelar instantly said he would look into ours and other former cricketers’ request for funds,” said Patil in a column on Mid-Day.

“I’m sure he will facilitate this and, at the risk of sounding macabre, save Anshu’s life. Any cricketer from any country should be helped by his Board, but Anshu’s case must be taken on priority and treated as paramount.”

‘Current players inspired by the cricketers he coached…’

Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India in an international career that spanned 12 years between 1975 and 1987. Gaekwad then had two stints as India’s head coach, once between 1997 and 1999 and then in 2000. His first stint was when Sachin Tendulkar was captain and the Indian team was in a state of transition and his second was after the match-fixing scandal of the late 1990s. It was in Gaekwad’s first period that Anil Kumble took 10 wickets in an innings in a Test against Pakistan to level the series. India also beat Australia 2-1 in a home series and drew an ODI series in New Zealand during his tenure. In his brief second stint, Gaekwad led India to the final of the ICC Knockout in 2000.

“He coached India in another era but the current players have been inspired by the cricketers he coached during his succesfull stint,” Patil further said in the column. “I’m no stats man, but I think Sachin Tendulkar was most succesfull during Anshu’s term. Not for a moment I’m suggesting that all those runs came from Anshu’s blade, but he was there when Sachin needed all the moral support to play his natural game and that was to blast away. He was also a national selector in the 1990s and currently the president of the Indian Crickets’ Association.