Ramakant Achrekar Sir's Memorial Will Motivate Next Generation Of Cricketers, Says Pravin Amre

Legendary cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar's memorial at the iconic Shivaji Park here will serve as a motivating factor for the next generation of cricketers, said former India cricketer Pravin Amre here on Saturday.

A memorial of Achrekar will be unveiled here on December 3 by legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and politician Raj Thackeray near Gate No 5. The memorial had got the green signal from the Maharashtra government in August this year.

"For us, it's a really, really big moment, simply because we all know the contribution he made for us... and not only as cricketers, our careers as coaches have also been successful because of our guru Achrekar sir," Amre told PTI during an event to announce the unveiling of the memorial here.

"This is what we wanted because our guru used to be at the Shivaji Park all the time, he used to call it 'karma bhoomi' and the unveiling of the memorial is happening here, that's the biggest thing for us and this can be motivating for the new generation.

"We started under him as school cricketers, then we became college cricketers, we played for our respective offices, then Ranji Trophy and then for the country. He was on that journey with us, from a school cricketer to Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar," he added.

Achrekar was honoured with the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2010.

He passed away in January 2019.

The players coached by him who went on to play for India included Ramnath Parkar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Lalchand Rajput, Chandrakant Pandit, Amre, Sameer Dighe, Vinod Kambli, Sanjay Bangar, Paras Mhambrey, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar and Tendulkar.

"He never compromised with hard work, he made sure that our performance speaks. He taught us about respecting the game, that's the biggest thing," Amre said.

"He lived a very simple life. Come rain or sunshine, he was there at Shivaji Park 365 days for so many years. He has got a special place in every player's heart," said Amre.

Amre, who played 11 Tests and 37 ODIs, said the Indian team in Australia must take it one Test at a time after recording a massive win in Perth.

"Nobody would have expected a win at Perth. The way we came back after getting out for 150 and then getting them for 100 (104 runs) and winning comfortably... that has set the tone," he said.

"Cricket is a game of confidence and that will give a huge confidence to India, but we should think about just one Test at a time." Amre emphasised the importance of taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, saying, "India will take that advantage, it is very rare to start 1-0. That's the biggest achievement. We have also been to Australia, we know how tough it is to win the first Test match." The former India player said young Indian cricketers, especially Yashasvi Jaiswal, who began the tour with a match-winning 161 in the Perth Test, should look to make it big in the series.

"For any cricketer, when you perform in Australia, you feel very happy and satisfied. The sky is the limit for them, they have to just keep a balanced head and also enjoy the success.

"It's an opportunity to come back as a Man of the Series or a performance of that type for Team India because we need that — scoring in Australia is like gold. Because they are batting well, they must ensure they contribute more. It's not a matter of being a senior or a junior, you are in-form, take the responsibility and contribute to India's success," he said.