RIP Ashok Mankad

[Mr. Wicket]

Ashok Mankad, the former Indian batsman, passed away in his sleep early on Friday morning in Mumbai. A Mumbai stalwart, Mankad's demise came as a shock as he was suffering from no reported ailments. He was 61. Even though he never could reach the heights that his father, Vinoo, attained, Mankad possessed a clever cricketing brain which he would utilise later in his career as a leader of various teams, including Mumbai, to script the downfall of their opponents. As a batsman, Mankad's career was staggered across a decade, where he played as high as an opener to as low as a No. 8, but he failed to establish himself and only played 22 Tests, between 1969 and 1978, scoring 991 runs. He made an impact against Bill Lawry's Australians in his debut season in 1969-70, compiling four half-centuries. His 97 in the third Test in New Delhi, also his highest Test score, helped India square the series 1-1. However, he managed only two more fifties in what turned out to be an unfulfilled Test career. He retired from first-class cricket in 1982-83, compiling 12980 runs at an impressive average of 50.90. He scored 44 in his only ODI, against England at The Oval. Vasu Paranjpe, another Mumbai legend and Mankad's contemporary, thought Mankad never did "justice to his batting career". But Paranjpe had no doubt about Mankad's leadership skills. "He was one of the best captains Mumbai had," Paranjpe said. "He was a clever player and shrewd leader." Mankad's legend as a captain was first established at Mafatlal's in Mumbai's premier corporate tournament where he led the likes of former India players Eknath Solkar and Brijesh Patel before captaining Mumbai. Here he worked out strategies in company of Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar to carry forward Mumbai's supremacy on the domestic front. After his playing career, Mankad quickly moved to coaching. Though he never became the head coach of the Indian team, he coached Madhya Pradesh, Railways and Mumbai with Baroda being his last assignment. Sadly, Mankad was never part of a Ranji Trophy-winning team as a coach and the closest he came was during Baroda's 2006-07 campaign, where the hosts, after having Mumbai reeling at 0 for 5 in the semi-finals, failed to drive home the advantage and eventually lost the match. Mankad is survived by his wife and two sons, Mihir and Harsh, all tennis players. © Cricinfo

Very sad news. A fantastic first class player for Bombay who had a tremendous record - but just couldn't convert it to a quality test career, with a few failures and selectors always ready to axe him without giving him a fair run in the side. RIP.

[Cricketics]

Sad News, player from the famous "Mankad" Family. R.I.P SIR

[DomainK]

Very sad news. RIP.

[Guest Hiten.]

Sad demise. RIP Mankad saheb.

[MundaPakistani]

Terrible news! May he RIP

[SachDan]

So sad.RIP

[Guest BossBhai]

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[flamy]

61 is not old. Very sad. R.I.P.

[Dirty_South]

R I P

[Dravid]

Rip

[umpire]

Rip

[DadaRocks]

61 is not old. Very sad. R.I.P.

RIP...BTW..61 is old in Pak & Ind

[Willow_on_fire]

Rip

[King]

Rip

[Chandan]

Very sad news. A fantastic first class player for Bombay who had a tremendous record - but just couldn't convert it to a quality test career, with a few failures and selectors always ready to axe him without giving him a fair run in the side. RIP.

This indeed was a very sad news. 61 years is no age to leave this world. May his soul rest in peace!!!

[Brainfade]

RIP. 61 is young.