Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday unveiled legendary cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar's memorial at the iconic Shivaji Park. The memorial was unveiled near Gate No 5. The memorial had got the green signal from the Maharashtra government in August this year. The Master Blaster began his cricketing journey as a child from shivaji park under coach Ramnakant Achrekar.
Ahead of the unveiling, Tendulkar posted a message on X which said, "Today is a very special day as we pay tribute to someone who gave so much to cricket and my life. I would be extremely happy if you join me as we unveil Achrekar Sir’s memorial on his birth anniversary and honour his incredible legacy."
Vinod Kambli in Fragile state while greeting Sachin Tendulkar
Another clip surfaced online was of In the clip, Tendulkar meeting childhood friend Vinod Kambli. Tendulkar was seen walking up to frail looking Kambli at the unveiling ceremony. However, Kambli couldn’t stand up on his feet as he hugged Tendulkar while sitting at his place.
While Sachin made his debut in November 1989 against Pakistan, Kambli donned the Indian jersey for the first time in 1991 in an ODI game at Sharjah.
About Ramakant Achrekar
Achrekar was honoured with the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2010.He passed away in January 2019. Shivaji Park holds historical importance as it witnessed the nurturing of numerous veteran cricketers under the mentorship of Achrekar.
These cricketers went on to bring glory to the nation on the international stage. The players Achrekar coached were Ramnath Parkar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Lalchand Rajput, Chandrakant Pandit, Amre, Sameer Dighe, Vinod Kambli, Sanjay Bangar, Paras Mhambrey, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar and Tendulkar.
