Former Baroda Ranji captain Narayan Satham passes away

Vadodara: Former Baroda Ranji team captain Narayan Satham died of heart failure at his home in the city on Sunday afternoon. He suddenly fell unconscious following which his family rushed him to a private hospital. But the doctors declared that he was brought dead.
Satham, a former all-rounder, was 73. He is survived by his son Jay and wife Vaijanti.Even after his retirement, he was active in cricket and was coaching youngsters at Sangramsinh Cricket Academy until a couple of months ago.
“Satham was a very passionate sportsman and the cricketing community will feel his loss. Just a week ago, I had a word with him about cricket development in Vadodara and I also enquired about his health. He groomed many cricketers in the city and helped in improving the cricketing standards,” said Pranav Amin, president, Baroda Cricket Association (BCA).
“I didn’t expect his untimely death. Satham was close to me since my schooldays and he was instrumental in making me a cricketer. A disciplined sportsman, he always accepted challenges on and off the field,” said Anshuman Gaekwad, former Indian cricket team coach.
Satham had undergone a heart surgery some years ago but he bounced back quickly and regularly coached the cricketers at the academy. He made Ranji debut for Baroda in the 1967-68 Ranji Trophy tournament and his first-class career spanned about 18 years. Satham bagged 193 wickets and scored 3,119 runs in the 84 first-class matches he played. Former India wicket-keeper Kiran More said that he was shocked to learn about Satham’s death. “For me, it’s a personal loss as he was my guru,” More said.
“He was a part of the managing committee at the BCA for several years. But he loved to spend time on the cricket ground and coach the youngsters rather than sitting in office. Satham was full of energy and always talked about ways to improve cricketing standards in the city,” said Sheetal Mehta, BCA vice-president.
In fact, Satham, who also had two stints as cricket improvement committee chairman for BCA, had congratulated Mehta on Saturday after royal scion Samarjitsinh Gaekwad and BCA president Pranav Amin announced to contest the association elections together.
BCA’s media committee chairman Satyajit Gaekwad said that Satham was his guru who taught him important lessons both on and off the field. Satham’s mortal remains will be cremated at Khaswadi crematorium on Monday at 10am.