Madhav Apte: A Mumbai khadoos who never got bitter

Madhav Apte was an aberration in Indian cricket in the true sense of the term.

The right-handed opener, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Monday, averaged nearly 50 in Test cricket in seven games but didn't go as far as one would have expected.

It is difficult to explain why someone, who scored three half centuries and a 163 against the deadly West Indies in their own backyard during a 1952-53 series, played only one Test after that.

He scored 460 of his 542 Test runs in West Indies and played only one more Test after that.

Born in an affluent business family, Apte, despite his merit as a player, saw politics in it and believed that the legendary Lala Amarnath was the reason for his ouster at that time.

Years later, Apte wrote about it in his autobiography "As Luck Would Have It -Unplugged Uncut", giving his side of the story.

"My sudden disappearance (exit) from Test cricket, especially after an impressive record was never explained," Apte wrote in his memoir.

He wrote:"Lala Amarnath chaired the selection committee. During the second Test (against Combined team), curiously he approached me with a request to meet my father. He wanted cloth distributorship for Kohinoor Mills in Delhi! He came home to meet my father."