Ramakant Achrekar, who coached one of India’s greatest batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, has passed away at the age of 87.

Achrekar was born in 1932 and is most well-known to have coached our master blaster in his childhood in the infamous grounds of Shivaji park in Mumbai and molded him into the fine batsmen he became.

Tendulkar took to Twitter to post a statement regarding the death of his beloved coach. In the statement, he wrote, “Cricket in heaven will be enriched with the presence of Achrekar sir. Like many of his students, I learnt my ABCD of cricket under Sir’s guidance. His contribution to my life cannot be captured in words. He built the foundation that I stand on. Last month, I met Sir along with some of his students and spent some time together. We shared a laugh as we remembered the old times.

He added, “Achrekar sir taught us the virtues of playing straight and living straight. Thank you for making us a part of your life and enriching us with your coaching manual. Well played Sir and may you coach more wherever you are.”

Achrekar has also coached cricketers like Vinod Kambli, Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar and Ramesh Powar. He was the recipient of the honorable Padma Shri in 2010 and also received the Dronacharya Award for Outstanding coaches in Sports and Games.

(Header Credit – Mohammad Kaif Twitter)