I have lost my best friend, says Ajit Wadekar

Mumbai, Nov 29 (UNI) Former India captain Ajit Wadekar today said in the demise of Hanumant Singh he had lost one of his very close friends.

''I played with him for many years for the State Bank team, along with Baloo Gupte, Sharad Diwadkar, Budhi Kunderan and I'm the only one of the five left now,'' Wadekar, one of the contemporaries of the late former India middle order batsman, said.

''We have shared some big partnerships for State Bank, and some great memories as well. He was a bit of an introvert, but a wonderful guy and a team man,'' he said.

Wadekar said the main thing about Hanumant was that he was a very good batsman off the back foot.

''It is very rare to find someone in India who is good off the back foot, generally all are front-foot players.'' ''It is amazing that his India career was curtailed by thatso-called injury. Otherwise I have no doubt he would have gone on to score plenty of runs for India. Even after that he was absolutely and completely devoted to the game. For him it was just cricket, cricket, cricket, in whatever role he played,'' Wadekar added.

Another close friend, Nari Contractor, whom late Hanumant fondly called 'Chhotu', said his demise was not only a loss for Indian cricket, but also a personal loss to him.

''He was a brilliant player in his days and was doing his bit for Indian cricket by coaching youngsters. He was not afraid to take tough decisions and was a highly respected coach,'' Nari said.

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