Legendary all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni dies at 86; Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan pay tribute

Photo courtesy: Twitter

New Delhi: Former Test all-rounder Rameshchandra Gangaram 'Bapu' Nadkarni passed away on Friday (January 17) in Mumbai at the age of 86. Nadkarni, best known for bowling a record 21 consecutive maiden overs in a Test match, is survived by his wife and two daughters.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) paid tribute to Nadkarni. "It is with profound sadness that BCCI has learnt of the passing of former India all-rounder Rameshchandra Gangaram 'Bapu' Nadkarni. The 86-year-old breathed his last at his daughter`s residence in Mumbai on Friday," BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said in a statement. "The Board shares the pain and grief of the Nadkarni family and prays for the departed soul," he added.

BCCI mourns the sad demise of Bapu Nadkarni.

The 86-year-old breathed his last at his daughter’s residence in Mumbai on Friday. https://t.co/IKx9mpOTnB pic.twitter.com/ghxNAZKVpB — BCCI (@BCCI) January 17, 2020

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar offered his condolences on the former India all-rounder's death. "Very sad to hear about the demise of Shri Bapu Nadkarni. I grew up hearing about the record of him bowling 21 consecutive maiden overs in a Test. My condolences to his family and dear ones," Tendulkar tweeted. 

Very sad to hear about the demise of Shri Bapu Nadkarni. I grew up hearing about the record of him bowling 21 consecutive maiden overs in a Test. My condolences to his family and dear ones.
Rest in Peace Sir. pic.twitter.com/iXozzyPMLZ

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 17, 2020

Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan too expressed his sorrow on the cricketer's death as he shared Tendulkar's tweet while adding, "and when needed to spend time at the crease to delay the result he had the capacity to block every ball, frustrate the bowling opposition and just remain there without scoring anything .. prayers."

... and when needed to spend time at the crease to delay the result he had the capacity to block every ball, frustrate the bowling opposition and just remain there without scoring anything .. prayers https://t.co/VLCRqNItkZ — Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) January 17, 2020

A left-arm batsman and slow-left arm orthodox bowler, Nadkarni played 41 Tests for India between 1955 and 1968. He scored 1,414 runs and took 88 wickets. His debut and final Tests were both against New Zealand.

Nadkarni was known to be one of the toughest bowlers to score runs against with an astonishing economy rate of 1.67 in 65 innings that he bowled in Test cricket. In 1964, Nadkarni bowled 21 successive maidens against England in Chennai. He bowled a total of 27 maidens in the innings, albeit without a wicket, and his figures read 32-27-5-0.

In the 1960-61 series against Pakistan, he managed figures of 32-24-23-0 in Kanpur followed by 34-24-24-1 in Delhi.

Nadkarni had played a total of 191 first-class matches in which he scored 8,880 runs and took 500 wickets. His economy rate across his first-class career was 1.64.