Former India batsman Arvind Apte dies

Arvind Apte, the former India batsman who played one Test in 1959, has died in Pune aged 79, of prostate cancer. He was the younger brother of Madhav Apte, who played seven Tests for India in the early 1950s. Arvind Apte was survived by a daughter.

Born in Bombay in 1934, Arvind Apte was taken on the tour of England in 1959 as a reserve opener. An attacking opening batsman with a wide range of strokes, he met with modest success on the tour, scoring 881 runs in 19 matches with three centuries, averaging 27.53. His best score was 165 against Derbyshire. Given a chance in the third Test at Leeds following an injury to Nari Contractor, Arvind Apte was out for 8 and 7, falling to Alan Moss both times.

He continued to play first-class cricket till the early 70s, finishing with an aggregate of 2782 runs at 33.51, with six centuries. He represented Bombay and Rajasthan in first-class cricket.