In Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray arrive at the residence of cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar who passed away yesterday, to attend his last rites.


Ramakant Achrekar, whose contribution was way more than gifting India a 'kohinoor' called Sachin Tendulkar, passed away in Mumbai at the age of 87, on Wednesday.


He belonged to that near extinct tribe of cricket coaches, who gave quintessential talented middle-class boys hope and imparted knowledge that they carried a lifetime.


The picture of Achrekar sporting a half-sleeved cotton shirt, simple trousers and a 'Dev Anand Jewel Thief' cap and perfecting a 14-year-old Tendulkar's forward defense shape at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana, was all about the simple times of '80s.


Those were days when cricket coaching centres were mushrooming throughout the country, an effect of the 1983 World Cup win.


But therein was the difference between Achrekar and other coaches as he never enrolled anyone who didn't have the required merit.


Tendulkar and his elder brother Ajit have time and again recalled how Achrekar would stand behind trees and watch Tendulkar bat to let him play freely. The story of Achrekar putting a one rupee coin over stumps and challenging Tendulkar not to get bowled in order to earn the coin is a part of cricketing folklore.

Tendulkar still maintains that those coins are priceless.