Dilip Sardesai passes away

Mumbai, Jul 2 (UNI) Former India Test batsman Dilip Sardesai has passed away at a city hospital here after suffering a multiple organ failure.

Sardesai was recently admitted to the Bombay Hospital for chest infection. Suffering from kidney problems for a long time, he had been on dialysis since then. He was 66.

Sardesai played 30 Tests between 1961 and 1972, managing 2001 runs, including five centuries, at an average of just under 40.

He will always be remembered for India's glorious summer of 1971, when they notched up series wins in West Indies and England.

He amassed 672 runs in the Caribbean, with two hundreds and a double, and provided an inspirational launching pad for Sunil Gavaskar in his debut series.

In England later that year, Sardesai's pivotal 54 and 40 allowed Bhagwat Chandrasekhar to hasten England's defeat at The Oval, their first against India at home.

He is survived by his wife Nandini Sardesai, a sociologist and a member of the Indian Censor Board, son Rajdeep Sardesai, the Editor-in-Chief of the news channel CNN-IBN, and daughter Shonali.

UNI