OTD| India’s dashing batter and 1983 World Cup winner Sandeep Patil was born in 1956

One of the most dashing batters as well as a useful medium pacer, Sandeep Patil was a big name in the domestic circuit as well as in the international circuit.  From his looks, one can guess that he was an aggressive batter and attracted a lot of crowds whenever the right-handed batter used to play. Right from the very beginning of his domestic career, he was regarded on the international side. 

It was on this that the star India batter was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Patil was a dependable player for Bombay for many years, leading Madhya Pradesh with outstanding results in the final several years of his first-class career. The right-hand batter was immediately a hit after completing his debut in a Test as well as during his first trip when, at Adelaide, he defeated Dennis Lillee as well as Len Pascoe for 174. Considering that he had scored 65 in the last Test before being struck by a bouncer from Pascoe, it was an impressive innings.

The all-rounder dropped following a lackluster series against England in 1981–1982 but returned for the entire tour there in the year 1982. Patil put on another spectacular performance at Old Trafford, scoring an unbeaten 129 and scoring 24 runs (4440444) off a single over from Bob Willis, and also the third delivery of the over was a no-ball.

The Mumbai-born batter performed admirably on the 1982–1983 tour for Pakistan, however, he left the group before the 1983 tour to the Caribbean due to personal issues. Patil was a member of the champions of that victory and returned to play in the 1983 World Cup. However, his aggressive batting was mixed with some indiscipline in the 1983–84 Test matches against Pakistan along with the West Indies, making it difficult for him to hold onto his spot in the team. 

Even though the former India batter performed admirably versus England the year after, he was benched after just two games along with never again being given a chance to play in a Test match, despite being chosen for the 1986 tour of England, in which he only participated in the one-day matches.

Following his retirement, Patil first led India A, then the Indian team, before taking over for Kenya. His unsure future with India A forced him to go back to a minnow, this time around Oman, in the Intercontinental Cup, where the elegant India batter assisted them to advance to the ICC Trophy following some impressive showings in the ACC Trophy. 

The former India batter resigned after leading the team to the semifinals of the 2003 World Cup and returned to India for the following 18 months. When Patil severed links with the unauthorized league in 2009, he moved to the main role as the head coach of the Mumbai Champs which was a franchise in ICL.