When the late Vijay Merchant handed over the reins to Wadekar, little did

anyone expect that an Indian team would be able to compete and win in alien
conditions like England and the West Indies.

He was lucky that a genius called Sunil Gavaskar's arrival coincided with his
ascendancy to the hot seat, but he should get the credit for throwing a 21-year-
old to the deep end of the pool.

Add to it, his decision to form a four-pronged spin quartet with Bishan Singh
Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and Srininvas
Venkatraghavan. That attack formed the backbone of the Indian team.

If Gavaskar was the hero in the West Indies, Wadekar unleashed Chandrasekhar
on the Englishmen during a time which could be aptly called 'That 70s show'.

Wadekar was a product of times when education was paramount and University
cricket produced stalwarts.

He hit a triple hundred in the Vizzy Trophy for West Zone Universities -- the
record was incidentally broken by Gavaskar.

He was perhaps the most elegant left-handed Indian batsman to have graced the
field before a certain Sourav Ganguly arrived on the scene.

Call it the game of glorious uncertainties, Wadekar lost his captaincy after a
disastrous England tour of 1974 when India lost 0-3 in Test matches.