Goa was known for its ‘suse gad’ attitude. The outlook still exists. Growing up in Goa one cannot avoid being in touch with fish, football and feni, the local brew.

Dilip Sardesai must have revolutionised that mindset. Moving to Bombay and making an impact in the cricketing bastion of India in those days was a special achievement.u00a0

Small town boys can get overawed by the maximum city, but in Sardesai’s case, Bombay was only ancillary to run-making and cricket.u00a0Needless to say, the impact he made at the university level got him recognition to play against Pakistan in the early 1960s for the President’s XI.

Interestingly, he was in the standbys to play Test cricket the same year before he actually played for Bombay.u00a0The cricket played in those days was qualitative. Top players were available and special talent was easily noticed. Performing with or against them made a serious impression. Sardesai was a product of that romantic era.

My generation of cricketers did not see Sardesai play, but the 1971 series win in the West Indies told us he had a huge role to play despite the emergence of a world-class player on that tour. Sunil Gavaskar’s arrival and India’s second Test series win abroad somewhere diluted Sardesai’s contribution, but he was christened Indian cricket’s Renaissance Man by another legend of Indian cricket - Vijay Merchant.

Dilip Sardesai talks to then Mumbai player Amit Pagnisu00a0in the 1990s. Pic/MiD DAY Archives