Pacer who forced Gavaskar to miss three Test matches
MUMBAI: Pandurang Salgaonkar, the 68-year-old curator and former cricketer who was suspended for his alleged role in ‘pitch-fixing’, played first-class cricket for a decade and even came close to India selection.
Salgaonkar played 63 firstclass matches from 1971-72 till 1981-82 for Maharashtra, claiming 214 wickets at 26.10, even getting a hundred against Baroda. He played in only five List A matches claiming four wickets. Salgaonkar is remembered for his searing pace that once forced Sunil Gavaskar to miss three Tests after being hit on his finger.
Often described as the fastest bowler in India in 1970s, Salgaonkar once claimed that he was as fast as the Caribbean bowlers.
In the 1972 Duleep Trophy semifinal, Salgaonkar’s exploits handed West Zone a surprise win over South. He led them to the title with an eight-wicket haul in the final. In late 1974, while representing the West Zone against the touring West Indies, Salgaonkar dismissed the likes of Roy Fredericks and Alvin Kallicharran (twice). Salgaonkar travelled to Sri Lanka for an unofficial Test series in early 1974, and claimed seven wickets in India’s victory in the third Test. However, after being ignored for the England tour in 1974, Salgaonkar became disheartened and never ‘made a serious bid again’, according to historian Sujit Mukherjee.
Salgaonkar went on to serve as a selector of Maharashtra’s Ranji team, and also runs a cricket academy in Pune apart from being the head curator at the MCA ground in Pune.
Interestingly, his assessment proved horribly wrong in Pune’s first-ever Test in February 2017. Salgaonkar had said the ball would ‘fly’. But his debut as a curator was marred by Australia spinner Steve O’keefe, who picked 12 to hand India a 333-run humiliation.