Madhav Apte

Madhavrao Laxmanrao Apte ( 5 October 1932 – 23 September 2019) was an Indian cricketer who played in seven Test matches from 1952 to 1953. He was elected to the office of the president of the Cricket Club of India in 1989. He afterwards served as the president of the club's Legend's Club and was the chairman of his family's company, Apte Group. His brother Arvind Apte was also a cricketer. He was a former Sheriff of Mumbai.

Early life Apte was born on 5 October 1932 into the Chitpavan Brahmin household of Laxmanrao Apte. His paternal grandfather had set up textile mills and sugar factories as the family business. He attended the Children's Academy before it was taken over by the Government of India, after which he moved to the Scottish Presbyterian Wilson High School, where he was encouraged to play cricket.

Apte finished his Bachelor of Arts degree at Mumbai University and finished his graduate degree in fine arts at Elphinstone College.

Career Apte, although a right-hand batsman by trade, began his career in 1948 as a leg spin bowler under the coaching of Vinoo Mankad while he was a student at Elphinstone College. In 1951, at the age of 19, he made his first-class debut playing for Indian Universities against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club.

In 1952, at the age of 20, he played his first Ranji trophy against the Saurashtra cricket team after Vijay Merchant dropped out due to injuries. and made his national cricket debut against the Pakistan team that season.

In 1953, Apte was selected for India's tour to West Indies, where at Port-of-Spain, Later on, in his autobiography, he states that soon after his run in the West Indies, his father was approached by chief selector Lala Amarnath for a share of the New Delhi base of their family's business, Kohinoor Mills. After his father politely declined the selector, Apte was never selected to represent India again. He joined his family's business and officially retired from international cricket at the age of 34, although he continued to play first class cricket. In 1989, he became the president of the Cricket Club of India and awarded Tendulkar playing membership, He was the president of the club's Legends Club, and in 2014, urged the club to make the Anandji Dossa reference library available to the public.

In December 1983, Apte was selected to become the Sheriff of Mumbai. In 2011, he inaugurated the 26th Sportstar Trophy. In 2015, at the age of 82, he published his autobiography titled As Luck Would Have It at Wankhede Stadium at the hands of Sunil Gavaskar. While his son, Vaman Apte represented India in squash and Mumbai University in cricket, and his daughter was an inter-school badminton champion.

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