Things you may have not know about birthday boy Sandeep Patil

Sandeep Madhusudan Patil celebrates his 60th birthday today. On the occasion of his birthday, here are some interesting facts about the Indian chairman of selectors that you may not know about

Sandeep Madhusudan Patil celebrates his 60th birthday today. On the occasion of his birthday, here are some interesting facts about the Indian chairman of selectors that you may not know about.

# Sandeep Patil’s parents Madhusudan and Sumitra were mixed doubles champions on the local badminton circuit. Sandeep revealed in his autobiography 'Sandy Storm' that badminton was his first love and he played a lot of games with his sister Asha.

Sandeep Patil deep in thought

# His father Madhusudan played Ranji Trophy cricket for Mumbai (then Bombay). He was an attacking batsman and used to lead Shivaji Park Gymkhana.

# His coach Anna Vaidya worked out a way to force him to face the quick bowlers who he ran away from. Vaidya tied a rope to his right leg and held it in his hand. When the young batsman wanted to get away from the line, Anna would pull the rope so Sandeep had no option but to face the ball.

# He got more wickets than runs in his Ranji Trophy debut against Hyderabad in 1976. He was dismissed for a duck by off-spinner V Ramnarayan and didn’t bat in the second innings. Patil claimed four wickets while partnering Abdul Ismail.

# In his younger days, he was fascinated by Gray Nicolls bats, but at the international level, he endorsed Symonds bats.

# His first two victims in Ranji Trophy cricket were Test cricketers – S Abid Ali and ML Jaisimha.

# He was a big Beatles and Bob Marley fan. On his current tour of the West Indies, he visited the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica.

Anna Vaidya, who coached Test player Sandeep Patil

# Before heading for his first tour of Australia in 1980-81, famous coach Vasu Paranjape is believed to have told Patil: “You watch Dennis Lillee for the first half an hour and for the next five and a half hours, he’ll be watching you.”

# In a naughty mood on the 1982 tour of England, he informed the stewards at Lord’s to check the credentials of a person who will say he is an India player before they let him through the gates before the Test. As it happened, the player was stopped by the stewards before they realised it was a prank.

# In 1983, he managed to inform journalists who were covering the India vs West Indies Test at Chennai that the Nirlon cricket team which was in the city for a tournament, would present Sunil Gavaskar for crossing Don Bradman’s tally of 29 Test tons. A few media persons gathered at the Nirlon team hotel where Patil presented the little master with a miniature car.

# Patil first played inter-office cricket for Century Rayon before moving on to Tatas, Nirlon and SunGrace Mafatlal. Rs 30 was his first salary at Century Rayon.

# He is a dog lover and has six Labradors. Lucky, Shasha, Bob, Boss, Zara and Ice live at his farmhouse in Chowk, near Panvel.

# At Chowk, he has built a make-believe railway station called Patilwadi which has rails and a platform.

Sandeep Patil batting against Australia on the 1980-81 tour Down Under

# In the 1980s, he had a 30-feet wingspan ‘Quell Commander’ plane on the terrace of his Shivaji Park dwelling. It was later converted into a bar.

# His attacking batting on the 1982 tour of England was appreciated by political and cricket writer CLR James.

# He was famous for his shrewd captaincy in local and domestic cricket. Sunil Gavaskar let him lead the Nirlon team and later on, he captained a future legend at SunGrace Mafatlal – Sachin Tendulkar.

# He loves to cook and can be spotted at Mahim’s Citylight buying fish.

Sandeep Patil interacts with fisherwoman at Dadar fish market. Pic/Suresh KK

# He once criticised Kapil Dev in his editorial for Shatkar magazine which he edited even when he was playing for India.

# While on a holiday in Mahableshwar, he got teammate Karsan Ghavri,to visit a fortune teller who told Ghavri about his past and future. Ghavri was impressed when the fortune teller told him that he played for India after he had switched states, but the fact was that Patil had briefed the fortune teller about Ghavri's past.

# He loved to tease teammate Dilip Doshi. During a game on the 1982 tour of England, he got Doshi's entire bat autographed.

# At an airport during India's 1982-83 tour of Pakistan, he hid late journalist Rajan Bala's brand new typewriter.

Sandeep Patil at a local cricket prize distribution function during his playing days . His coach Ankush 'Anna' Vaidya is to his right

# He handled the press with aplomb. Once, a senior journalist wanted to know the status of his leg injury. "How's the leg, Sandeep," he asked before Sandeep shot back, "it's hairy."

# Sachin Tendulkar used to get a lift from Patil to matches in his younger days and loved the then India batting star's Contessa car.

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