Sudhir Naik, the former opener of the Indian team and coach of Zaheer Khan, died at 78 in a hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. The death of Naik, who played three Test matches for India in 1974, has been confirmed by sources in the Mumbai Cricket Association.
A source in the Mumbai Cricket Association, who has regular health information about Sudhir Naik, said, “Recently, Sudhir Naik had a fall in the bathroom of his house and had a head injury. After this, he was admitted to the Mumbai hospital. He went into a coma and could not recover again.”
Naik made Mumbai the Ranji Trophy champion under his captaincy. Naik led the team to the Ranji Trophy title under his captaincy in 1970-71 when veterans like Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai and Ashok Mankad were not playing in this team.
In 1974, Sudhir Naik visited England with the Indian team and made his Test debut. Naik scored a half-century in the second innings in Birmingham but could not prevent the team’s defeat. He played 85 first-class games and scored 4376 runs at an average of over 35. During this, he scored seven centuries, including a double century.
However, in the 1970s, the BCCI used to be very weak, and during that time, Sudhir Naik was wrongly accused of stealing two pairs of socks from a London departmental store. He could not defend it. Sunil Gavaskar also wrote in his book ‘Sunny Days’ that Naik should not have apologized before the magistrate and should have fought with a good lawyer. His reputation was stained by making false allegations against Naik.
Sudhir Naik made a strong comeback from this shock and scored a half-century. But the international career of Naik, a victim of a conspiracy in Indian cricket, could not progress beyond 1974.
Sudhir Naik started coaching after his cricket career, shaping Zaheer Khan’s career. It was Naik who brought Zaheer Khan to Mumbai and gave him exposure. Naik believed in his talent and groomed the left arm, fast bowler.
