Prominent cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar, who drew his last breath due to age-related ailments, was cremated here on Thursday. Achrekar who is known to have crafted Sachin Tendulkar in childhood passed away at 87 on Wednesday at his Shivaji Park residence in Dadar in Central Mumbai. Achrekar will be remembered for his immense contributions to Indian cricket.
The emotional Sachin Tendulkar marked his presence for a final journey as he was one among the attendees for a tearful adieu. Achrekar’s body was kept at Shivaji Park, where he coached successful cricketers and then taken to a crematorium in the vicinity. When the body was taken outside the ground, young boys, who practice there, gave a guard of honour amid chants of ‘Amar Rahe’.
Sachin Tendulkar including Achrekar’s other wards like Vinod Kambli, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, and Chandrakant Pandit, took part in the procession to the crematorium, where his body was put to flames. Some time ago, the body was kept at his residence for people to pay tributes to the Dronacharya and Padma Shri award-winning coach.
Mumbai cricketers- Atul Ranade, Amol Muzumdar Ramesh Powar, Paras Mhambrey, Ranji coach Vinayak Samant, Nilesh Kulkarni, Vinod Raghavan, were there along with fans. Among politicians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, MLA and BJP leader Ashish Shelar, Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar paid their last respects to the decorated coach.
(With inputs from PTI)
