Anshuman Gaekwad Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Anshuman Gaekwad is a former Indian cricketer who played 40 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals. He also served as the national coach for India two times. He is the son of Dattajirao Gaekwad, India’s tenth Test captain.

Wiki/Biography

Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad was born on Tuesday, 23 September 1952 (age 71 years; as of 2023) in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. His zodiac sign is Libra. Anshuman did his primary schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary and then attended Maharani Chimnabai High School, Vadodara. Growing up, he would accompany his father, Dattajirao Gaekwad, to practice sessions at Moti Bagh ground, where coaching camps by veterans like Vijay Hazare, Jayasinghrao Ghorpade, and Dattajirao used to run all year round. He pursued a course in commerce at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. . He made his way into university cricket in 1969.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 11″

Hair Colour: Grey

Eye Colour: Black

Family & Ethnicity

Anshuman Gaekwad belongs to a Marathi family.

Parents & Siblings

His father, Dattajirao Gaekwad (deceased), was also a cricketer, who played 11 Tests for India between 1952 and 1961. He died in Vadodara due to age-related ailments on 13 February 2024. His mother’s name is Ushadevi. He has three sisters, Geeta, Sunetra, and Nandini. He is the eldest of the four siblings.

Wife & Children

After a five-year-long courtship, Anshuman Gaekwad got married to Jyoti Gaekwad. He has two sons, Aniruddha Gaekwad and Shatrunjay Gaekwad. Shatrunjay is also a cricketer who represents Baroda in the Ranji Trophy.

Signature/Autograph

Career

As a Cricketer

Domestic

Within a year of playing university cricket, he was selected to play as a bowler to represent Baroda in the 1969-70 season. He played for Baroda in the domestic circuit and has over 12,000 first-class runs to his name, including 34 centuries.

International

On 1 January 1975, Gaekwad made his Test debut against West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He scored 36 runs in his debut Test match. Gaekwad was badly hit on his ear by Michael Holding during a match against the West Indies in Jamaica in 1975-76, a near-death experience for him. Gaekwad was batting at 81 when Holding’s bouncer had punctured his eardrum. He was rushed to the hospital and spent 48 hours in the ICU. Although he went through various surgeries, the injury led to a lifelong hearing problem. On 7 June 1975, he made his ODI debut against England at Lord’s, London. He played in the 1975 and 1979 Cricket World Cup.

He scored his maiden Test century against West Indies during the 1978-79  cricket season. His career highlights include scoring a double-century in the second Test of Pakistan in the India Test series at Jalandhar on 29 September 1983. Pakistan had set the target of 337 runs in the first innings. India had a rocky start as it lost early wickets. However, Gaekwad stood his ground and scored 201 off 436 balls, batting for 671 minutes. It was one of the slowest double-century in First-Class cricket. Although the match resulted in a draw, Gaekwad made a name for himself. After that, he gained a reputation for his patience and ability to focus in tough situations.

On 31 December 1984, he played his last Test match against England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He played 40 Tests for India in which he scored 1985 runs at 30.07. Sunil Gavaskar, who was Gaekwad’s opening partner in 29 of his 40 Tests. Gaekwad played his last ODI against West Indies at Nehru Stadium, Gauhati on 23 December 1987. He played 15 ODIs in which he scored 269 runs at 20.69.

As a National Coach, Selector, and Administrator

Following his retirement from international cricket, Gaekwad served as a national selector between 1992 and 1996 during which he had to convince the legendary cricketer Kapil Dev to retire in 1994. From October 1997 to September 1999, he served as the Indian national cricket coach. He succeeded Madan Lal at a time when India was going through a terrible period in international cricket. During his two-year stint as coach, he worked well with the ODI format side but an unsuccessful tour in Australia in 1999 and India’s poor performance in the 1999 World Cup led to the end of his tenure.

In 2000, Gaekwad was once again appointed as the national team coach, but this time he only held the position for a few months. After Kapil Dev stepped down, Gaekwad took over the role, and then John Wright replaced him later. In 2018, BCCI approached him to be on the interview panel to select the women’s coach. In 2019, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA)  decided that Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad, and Shantha Rangaswamy would comprise the three-member committee to pick India’s next head coach.

In 2022, he became the President of the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA).  He was part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) and is also a former BCCI Apex Council member.

After retirement

After retiring from cricket, Anshuman Gaekwad worked at the Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited in Vadodara and took early retirement in 2000. In 2004, he became the executive director at ProCricket in the US.

Awards

In June 2018, he received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award from BCCI, the highest honour conferred by BCCI on a former player. He was recognised as one of the best coaches in Indian history and was awarded a sum of Rs. 25 lakhs.

Facts/Trivia

• He is also referred to as Charlie by his fellow cricketers and friends, a name given to him by a bar girl on a tour to New Zealand. Fellow cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar narrated the incident in an interview and said,
  

  We were sitting in a bar. Everyone was ordering a drink. And the bar girl asked him: ‘What can I serve you, Charlie?’ I asked her why Charlie and she said he was wearing specs. That’s how he was nicknamed Charlie.”

• He earned the nickname “The Great Wall” for his defensive approach against the likes of intimidating West Indies bowlers, who were the best in the business during his era.

• Anshuman Gaekwad has distant family ties to the royal family of Baroda. His paternal grandfather was one of the brothers of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III and served in the Baroda state army. After the death of Sayajirao in 1939, his grandson Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad became the Maharaja. Anshuman Gaekwad’s father, Dattajirao Gaekwad, was invited to live at Laxmi Vilas Palace in Baroda at the age of 11 to be a companion to Prince Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad. Later, Dattajirao also served as the Deputy Comptroller for the state of Baroda.

• As a kid, he developed a passion for cricket by watching his father, Dattajirao Gaekwad, play the sport. His love for the sport also came from his mother’s side of the family. Aunshu’s maternal grandfather, Wyankatrao Narsimharao Ghorpade, was the captain of the Baroda team when the side won its first Ranji Trophy in 1942-43.

• Anshuman had a fear of fast bowling during his childhood. It was Jayasinghrao Ghorpade, fondly called Mamasaheb, who helped Anshuman overcome this fear.

• The Convent of Jesus and Mary was about 10 km away from Anshuman’s home. To make the commute easier, he was arranged to travel with the younger sisters of Maharaja Fatehsinhrao who also attended the same school. A servant would pick Aunshu up on a bicycle, take him to the palace, and then he would ride in a car. However, he would return home by bicycle only. This routine lasted for about three years, but because Aunshu was so exhausted by the time he got home around 6:30 pm, Dattaji decided to move him to a closer school.

• He is a right-hand batter and right-arm off-break bowler.

• Gaekwad loves going to Mahabalipuram and relaxing at Fisherman’s Cove when he’s in Chennai.

• In May 2023, he released his auto-biography ‘Guts Amidst Bloodbath’ in the presence of Sunil Gavaskar.

  Anshuman Gaekwad during the launch of his autobiography Guts Amidst Bloodbath (2023)

• In the same year, Anshuman Gaekwad was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a type of blood cancer,  and he has been undergoing chemotherapy at a private hospital in Vadodara since then.

• He loves to eat spicy food.