Former BCCI executive secretary dies

Sharad Diwadkar, the former Bombay allrounder and executive secretary to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has died in Bombay at the age of 69.

Diwadkar played in 82 matches for Bombay and State Bank between 1957-58 and 1973-74, scoring 1803 runs at 24.04, including one century, and he also took 211 wickets at 26.17 with his offspinners. He was the brother-in-law of the Bombay captain, Milind Rege, and at State Bank he was a team-mate of the likes of Gundappa Viswanath and Hanumant Singh.

He took 11 five-wicket hauls for Bombay and ten in the match on one occasion, but in an era of great Indian spinners, he was never called upon to represent his country on the field. Instead he represented India in the boardroom, taking over from Polly Umrigar as executive secretary in 1997, after Umrigar had resigned in protest at the poor functioning of the board.

He held the post for five years, in which time his duties included accompanying the young Harbhajan Singh to England in 1998, where he underwent remedial work on his bowling action, under the guidance of Fred Titmus.

In July 2003, Diwadkar he resigned due to ill-health, on the advice of his doctors. He collapsed and died in Bombay on the evening of March 1, while out on his evening stroll.