As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced an enormous Rs. 125 crore reward for the victorious Indian team after their 2024 T20 World Cup win, calls have been made to fund the treatment of ailing former Indian cricketer and head coach Anshuman Gaekwad. Gaekwad, who coached India across two spells during the late 1990s, is currently battling blood cancer at the King’s College Hospital in London, at the age of 71. Former BCCI chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, who played alongside Gaekwad, has been loudest in urging the BCCI to step in.

“Anshuman Gaekwad told me that he has received financial support from the cricket board, but more financial support is needed,” wrote Sandeep Patil in his column on Mid-Day.

Patil revealed that a conversation with BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar regarding the issue has already been had, and assurance has also been provided.

“In this regard, former cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar and I had a conversation with Cricket Board Treasurer Ashish Shelar. We called Ashish Shelar from the car after seeing Anshuman Gaekwad in the hospital,” wrote Patil.

“Ashish Shelar instantly said he would look into ours and other former cricketers’ requests for funds. I’m sure he will facilitate this and, at the risk of sounding macabre, save Anshu’s life. Any cricketer from any country should be helped by his Board, but Anshu’s case must be taken up on priority and treated as paramount,” wrote Patil.

Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India between 1974 and 1987. Notably, he was head coach of India between 1997 and 1999 in his first stint, and then took over after the infamous match-fixing scandal. During his second stint, India finished runners-up to New Zealand in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy (later known as the Champions Trophy).

In his column, Patil also referred to the fact that Sachin Tendulkar had been in his best form during Gaekwad’s tenure as head coach.

Former BCCI chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels India have one of the strong teams heading into the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India take on Bangladesh in their only practice match of tournament on Saturday against Bangladesh, days before kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland in New York on June 5. The Indian team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, arrived in New York earlier this week to begin their preparations for the tournament.

Speaking at a recent event, Vengsarkar suggested that India have one of strongest squads in the tournament, despite the fact that they left out key players like KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh from the 15 man squad.

“The current Indian team, I think, is one of the best in the world, I would say. If you could, you know, put a Gill out or Rahul or Rinku Singh out, I’m sure it’s a very strong team. And I wish them all the success. Because, I think, it’s one of the best in the world at the moment”, Vengsarkar said at an event at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Gill and Rinku have joined the team as travelling reserves while Rahul was missing from both the lists.

Vengsarkar also pointed out that due to the uncertain nature of the format, any player can be a match-winner on a particular day.

“The key players would like to play an important role in this T20 World Cup. It’s very difficult to say in this format because everybody is a very important member of the team. But the thing is that, as you have seen in IPL, the first six were very important. How you give a good start in the first six was very important. And of course, in this format, anything can happen. But I can’t say X, Y or Z is a key player in the team. In this format, anybody can win the match at any time of the match,” he added.

India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and T20 World Cup co-hosts USA.

Virat Kohli was absent from the team training this week as he is due to reach New York few hours before India’s warm-up match.