'Nobody could question his love and commitment to Mumbai cricket.'
Sunil Gavaskar paid tribute to his close friend and former Bombay team-mate Milind Rege, who passed away after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
Met him in the hospital yesterday before leaving for Dubai. He kept on proffering his hand for me to shake it as if he knew we weren't going to do it again. Told him I will see him on 22nd morning and he gave a wan smile.
He was like my elder brother. We lived a building across each other and grew up together, went to the same school and college.
Played tennis ball cricket in the compound. He played Ranji before me and like Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani have done for Mumbai this year, Milind always came to the rescue when we, the so-called top order, failed.
He was good enough to play for India but there was Prasanna and Venkataraghavan around, so he couldn't break in. Then at the age of 24 he had his first heart attack. It speaks volumes of his love for Mumbai cricket and his determination that he made a comeback a few years later and even captained Mumbai.
Last week after he was first admitted to the hospital, when I told him that Mumbai had taken a small lead against Haryana you could see how he immediately perked up.
For him Mumbai cricket was his life. Yes, he had strong opinions and so may have upset a few people but nobody could question his love and commitment to Mumbai cricket.
We have known each other since we were a few months old, that's why I won't be able to bear the sight of his still body and won't return for the funeral. It may sound selfish on my part but I genuinely won't be able to take the last rites of my elder brother.
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