Krishna Havaldar's tribute to Ramakant Achrekar: Thank you, guru

Coach Ramakant Achrekar

Dronacharya award-winning cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar is well known for his contribution to the game, having trained some top players like the legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar and stalwarts like Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre, Chandrakant Pandit and Sameer Dighe besides a host of first-class cricketers, who represent Mumbai and other state teams.

Today, on the occasion on Guru Purnima, Krishna Havaldar, the first Ranji Trophy cricketer to be coached by Achrekar, offered his salutations to the great coach. Havaldar, now 76, began playing cricket under Achrekar at the age of 13, for Balmohan Vidyamandir (Dadar). He went on to represent Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964 under the captaincy of PG 'Nana' Joshi and then Chandu Borde.

Krishna Havaldar

"Achrekar sir is not just a cricket coach, he's also a guru, who taught us precious values like honesty, sincerity and good behaviour. He always instructed us to walk if we knew we were out and not to wait for the umpire's decision. He believed that since cricket is a gentleman's game, we should all behave like gentlemen," Havaldar, who currently lives in Bangalore, told mid-day yesterday.

Havaldar went on to describe Achrekar's style of coaching. "He [Achrekar] would ask us to practice one stroke 100 times every day in front of a mirror at home. He always wanted us to give equal importance to our studies besides cricket. 'If you are not playing cricket, then you should be studying and not wasting your time', he would always say. "I went on to become a professor and then Dean of a Management Institute. This would never have been possible had it not been for the teachings of Achrekar sir," said Havaldar, who retired as Principal and Dean of RJS Institute of Management Studies in Bangalore two years ago.

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