Madhavrao Laxmanrao Apte (pronunciation 5 October 1932 – 23 September 2019) was an Indian cricketer who played in seven Test matches from 1952 to 1953.[2] He was elected to the office of the president of the Cricket Club of India in 1989. He afterwards served as the president of the club's Legend's Club and was the chairman of his family's company, Apte Group. His brother Arvind Apte was also a cricketer. He was a former Sheriff of Mumbai.

Madhav Apate
Sheriff of Mumbai
In office
1984–2019
Preceded bySohrab Pirojsha Godrej
Personal details
Born(1932-10-05)5 October 1932
Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died23 September 2019(2019-09-23) (aged 86)
Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, India[1]
RelativesArvind Apte (brother)
Residence(s)Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Alma materMumbai University, Elphinstone College
Cricket information
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm bowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 64)13 November 1952 v Pakistan
Last Test28 March 1953 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
Bombay
Bengal
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 7 67
Runs scored 542 3,336
Batting average 49.27 38.79
100s/50s 1/3 6/16
Top score 163* 165*
Balls bowled 6 120
Wickets 0 4
Bowling average 24.25
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/6
Catches/stumpings 2/– 27/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 20 November 2022

Early life

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Apte was born on 5 October 1932 into the Chitpavan Brahmin household of Laxmanrao Apte.[3] His paternal grandfather had set up textile mills and sugar factories as the family business.[4] He attended the Children's Academy before it was taken over by the Government of India, after which he moved to the Scottish Presbyterian Wilson High School, where he was encouraged to play cricket.[5]

Apte finished his Bachelor of Arts degree at Mumbai University and finished his graduate degree in fine arts at Elphinstone College.[6][7]

Career

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Apte, although a right-hand batsman by trade,[8] began his career in 1948 as a leg spin bowler under the coaching of Vinoo Mankad while he was a student at Elphinstone College.[9] In 1951, at the age of 19, he made his first-class debut playing for Indian Universities against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club.[10]

In 1952, at the age of 20, he played his first Ranji trophy against the Saurashtra cricket team after Vijay Merchant dropped out due to injuries.[11][7] That same year, he was selected as a replacement to the Bombay team after Pankaj Roy,[12] and made his national cricket debut against the Pakistan team that season.[10] He also played one season (1957/58) for Bengal.[13]

In 1953, Apte was selected for India's tour to West Indies, where at Port-of-Spain,[5] he finished as the second highest scorer for India after Polly Umrigar. He played in only one first-class match in 1954, after which he was never selected on the national Indian team again. He maintained that his being dropped was "an unsolved mystery".[14] Later on, in his autobiography, he states that soon after his run in the West Indies, his father was approached by chief selector Lala Amarnath for a share of the New Delhi base of their family's business, Kohinoor Mills. After his father politely declined the selector, Apte was never selected to represent India again. He joined his family's business and officially retired from international cricket at the age of 34, although he continued to play first class cricket.[9] His last first-class game was the 1967–68 Ranji Trophy final between Bombay and Madras.[10]

Apte is the only cricket player to have played alongside D. B. Deodhar and Sachin Tendulkar.[15] In 1989, he became the president of the Cricket Club of India and awarded Tendulkar playing membership,[9][10] and in 2016, argued that the Cricket Club of India was a founding member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India after the controversial Lodha Committee report proposed to consign the club as an associate member of the Board, and thus taking away the voting rights of the former's members as part of the reformation process at the latter.[16] He was the president of the club's Legends Club,[17] and in 2014, urged the club to make the Anandji Dossa reference library available to the public.[18]

In December 1983, Apte was selected to become the Sheriff of Mumbai.[19] In 2011, he inaugurated the 26th Sportstar Trophy.[20] In 2015, at the age of 82, he published his autobiography titled As Luck Would Have It at Wankhede Stadium at the hands of Sunil Gavaskar.[15][9]

In business, Apte served as the president of the Mumbai Chamber of Commerce. He served as the chairman of the Apte Group.[21][6]

Personal life

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Apte's younger brother Arvind Apte, also played first-class cricket for Bombay, Rajasthan and Indian Universities.[22] While his son, Vaman Apte represented India in squash and Mumbai University in cricket, and his daughter was an inter-school badminton champion.[10]

He died at the Breach Candy Hospital on the morning of 23 September 2019 aged 86.[23]

Publications

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  • Apte, Madhav (2015). As Luck Would Have It (1st ed.). Mumbai: Global Cricket School. ISBN 978-8193130308.[24]
  • Apte, Madhav (2016). Daivayattam (in Marathi) (1st ed.). Rajhans Prakashan. p. 300. ISBN 978-8174349460.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Former India opener Madhav Apte dies at 86". ESPNcricinfo. 23 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Former India opener Madhav Apte dies at 86". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  3. ^ Viswanath, G. (26 February 2016). "Madhav Apte: Apt assessment of two eras". Sportstar.
  4. ^ Wisden India Staff (4 August 2015). "Trip down memory lane: The living tale of Madhav Apte". News 18. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b Viswanath, G (31 January 2016). "Selectors were whimsical then, maybe to a lesser extent now". The Hindu.
  6. ^ a b "Madhav Apte Profile". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  7. ^ a b Pataik, Sidhanta (4 August 2015). "From Merchant to Tendulkar – the life and times of Madhav Apte". Wisden India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  8. ^ Massey, Abhinav (24 July 2016). "5 unsuccessful Indian cricketers with great statistics". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017. 5. Madhav Apte
  9. ^ a b c d Ahuja, Chandni (9 October 2015). "10 things you should know about Madhav Apte – India's most unfortunate cricketer". Sports Keeda. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e Mustafi, Suvajit (5 October 2016). "Madhav Apte: 17 facts about one of India's most unfortunate cricketers". Cricket Country. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  11. ^ Viswanath, G (13 October 2011). "Vijay Merchant's technique was close to perfection: Madhav Apte". The Hindu.
  12. ^ Jayaraman, Subash (17 December 2014). "Why I was dropped is still an unsolved mystery". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  13. ^ Krishnan, G (12 March 2016). "oday's competition makes Mumbai Ranji Trophy win sweeter: Madhav Apte". Daily News and Analysis. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  14. ^ Sengupta, Arunabha (14 June 2016). "Madhav Apte: Averaged almost 50 from 7 Tests but never picked again". Cricket Country. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  15. ^ a b "Madhav Apte, 82, launches his autobiography". Cricket Country. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Lodha Committee report absurd: Former CCI president Madhav Apte". Cricket Country. 6 January 2016. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  17. ^ Viswanath, G (13 April 2017). "I look for Vinoobhai's name on the Lord's honours board: Gavaskar". Sportstar. The Legends Club President, Madhav Apte
  18. ^ Murzello, Clayton (1 October 2014). "Make Dossa library available to public: Madhav Apte". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Raj Bhavan Archives (A Class Files – Permanent Record" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Madhav Apte inaugurates Sportstar Trophy". The Hindu. 19 October 2011.
  21. ^ Patvardhan, V. S. (1990). Growth of Indigenous Entrepreneurship: Enterprises of Dahanukar, Apte, Dandekar, Sathe and Parkhe (Part 2 of Growth of Indigenous Entrepreneurship, V. S. Patvardhan ed.). University of Michigan: Popular Prakashan. p. 126. ISBN 9788171547012.
  22. ^ Joshi, Harit (5 October 2012). "The cricketing journey of Madhav Apte". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 19 May 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  23. ^ Viswanath, G. (23 September 2019). "Former cricketer Madhav Apte passes away". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Madhav Apte's ouster after 460 runs in a series is still a mystery". Mid-Day. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Daivayattam by Madhav Apate". Akshardhara. Retrieved 23 September 2019.