Former Mumbai Cricketer Vishwanath Bondre Passes Away

Former Mumbai Ranji Trophy cricketer Vishwanath Ramachandra Bondre died here on Wednesday night. He was 77.

“I heard from Shivaji Park Gymkhana round 10 pm that he died of a heart attack,” informed Milind Rege, a former Mumbai captain who was his teammate for one year.

Challenged at the outset by a motivated group of seamers on a helpful Wankhede pitch, it was on a formidable score that the home team ended its innings by lunch on the second day.

                                                

Having seen the behaviour of the pitch for nearly one-and-a-half hours as a batsman, the Mumbai skipper Zaheer Khan opted to go for the jugular after the long break.

Vishu Bondre played 8 games for Mumbai as a lower order batsman and a medium fast bowler and formed a combination with former India fast bowler Ramakant Desai for his employers ACC, Shivaji Park Gymkhana and Mumbai (then Bombay) click here for more information about Vishwanath Bondre Passes Away .

With competition so intense for places in the eleven in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team in the 1960s, Bondre could play in very few games between 1965-66, his first season, and 1969-70.

Bondre scored 138 runs with 36 against Baroda at Baroda in his debut season as his best and grabbed 16 wickets at 26.50 per wicket with a personal best of 6 for 116 against Gujarat at Surat in his final Ranji season.

In all five years that he played for Mumbai, they were the Ranji Trophy champions, an indication of how strong the team was.

"He was a fine all round cricketer though he did not play much for Mumbai as competition for places was so intense. But he played a lot for ACC and SPG in local cricket and both those teams were also very strong," said Rege.