Anil Gurav, once hailed as Mumbai's 'Vivian Richards' and an Achrekar prodigy, dies at 61—his story a poignant tale of talent that never fulfilled its promise.
IMAGE: Anil Gurav lent Sachin Tendulkar the bat used for his first competitive century. Photograph: Kind courtesy Cricketopia/X
Anil Gurav's story does not begin with what he became, but with what he almost was.
In the dusty maidans of Mumbai, under the watchful eye of Ramakant Achrekar, there was once a boy on whom a coin was placed before the rest. Before Sachin Tendulkar became the chosen one, there was Gurav.
Key Points
- Anil Gurav, once a standout student of Ramakant Achrekar, has passed away at 61.
- Seen as a prodigious talent, he was nicknamed the “Vivian Richards of Mumbai”.
- Senior to Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli at Shardashram Vidyamandir.
- Achrekar reportedly made younger players watch Gurav bat in the nets.
His friends called him the 'Vivian Richards of Mumbai', a tribute not lightly handed out in a city that has seen genius in abundance.
"Achrekar sir used to make Sachin and others watch him in the nets. He was a player that one could learn from," recalled Nadim Memon, a veteran Mumbai curator and MCA councillor.
"He was among Achrekar sir’s favourite boys," Memon told PTI.
"His friends used to call him 'Vivian Richards of Mumbai' not only because he had a square cut which looked similar but he was equally good on the leg-side,” Memon said.
Gurav was a few years senior to Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli at Shardashram Vidyamandir, the school that became cricket’s unlikely nursery. Achrekar, it is said, would bring the younger boys to watch Gurav bat. That, in itself, was a statement.
There is another story, almost too neat in its symbolism. Gurav, still ahead in the pecking order, once lent Tendulkar his bat. With it came the latter’s first century in competitive cricket.
And yet, Gurav never made it.
He played age-group cricket -- Under-16, Under-19 -- and turned out for Achrekar’s Sassanian Cricket Club and Kamath Memorial. But the path from promise to permanence narrowed, and somewhere along the way, he lost his footing.
Life intervened, harshly and without warning. His brother’s alleged involvement in illicit activities brought police scrutiny to the family’s door. Gurav, accordingly to some, was mistakenly picked up and beaten.
What followed was a retreat from cricket, and poor choices -- drink, and a slow drift away from the game that once defined him.
He lived on, largely out of sight, in a small room in Nalasopara. On Tuesday, he died there, aged 61.
The contrast is unavoidable. The boy Achrekar marked out. The young man others were asked to watch. The cricketer who lent a bat to a future great. And the life that followed.
In Mumbai cricket, stories of success are told often, almost routinely. Anil Gurav’s is different. It lingers not for what it celebrates, but for what it leaves behind — a reminder that talent, even when recognised early, is no guarantee of arrival.