Ramakant Achrekar passes away: PM Narendra Modi offers condolences

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday offered his condoled the demise of cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar who was widely known to have trained a number of sportspersons including Sachin Tendulkar.

PM Modi took to Twitter to hail Achrekar's contribution to cricket and his ability to spot and hone talents who brought glory to the country. "Shri Ramakant Achrekar Ji was a shining beacon of the Guru Parampara. An outstanding mentor, he groomed cricketing talent for years and the gems he trained went on to bring immense glory to the nation. His passing away is a big loss to the sporting world. My condolences," he wrote on the social media site.

Shri Ramakant Achrekar Ji was a shining beacon of the Guru Parampara. An outstanding mentor, he groomed cricketing talent for years and the gems he trained went on to bring immense glory to the nation. His passing away is a big loss to the sporting world. My condolences: PM

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 3, 2019

Achrekar, 87, breathed his last at his own home. He was suffering from age-related ailments and was also half-paralysed. (Also read: Team India cricketers wear black armbands to honour memory of Achrekar)

Achrekar, who founded Kamath Memorial Cricket Club at Shivaji Park, coached and nurtured several cricketers including top players such as Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre and Ramesh Powar.  

Sachin was introduced to Achrekar by his brother Ajit during his school days. 

Achrekar spotted Sachin's talent and suggested him to switch from Indian Education Society's New English School to Sharadashram Vidya Mandir (English) High School, which was known to have a dominant cricket team. It was for Sharadashram school that Sachin stiched a marathon 664-run partnership with Vinod Kambli against St. Xavier’s in a Harris Shield match in 1988. A year later, he made his debut for India in a Test match against Pakistan at Karachi and went to become a cricketing legend, a decade later.