Anant Solkar

Born on 19 September 1951 in Pawas, Maharashtra, Solkar played as a bowling all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled off spin. He had five siblings (including Eknath Solkar) and his father was a groundsman at the Hindu Gymkhana in Bombay.[1] In a Harris Shield match in 1968, he scored 396 and took 6/28. This is regarded as the best all-round performance in school cricket.[2] He made his first-class debut in the 1972/73 season for Railways and, in the same season, registered his career-best bowling figures of 8/100 in a Ranji match against Delhi. He switched to his home state team Maharashtra in the 1976/77 season and represented it for five seasons. After getting dropped from the team, he quit playing cricket on the advice of his elder brother Eknath Solkar.[2] He finished with 26 first-class appearances in which he took 63 wickets at an average of 23.96.[3]

After his cricket career, Solkar became an alcohol addict. He recollects, "I don’t know what happened. There was nothing left in my life after cricket. I was slowly becoming addicted to it. My day would start and end with it." In 1986, his 15-year-old daughter died of blood cancer. Solkar, who was employed with Tata Electric, quit his job in 1987.[2] He came out of his alcohol addiction in 2007,[4] and worked as an umpire in local matches between 2001 and 2009. He then started to coach young cricketers free of cost in Mumbai.[2]

• Anant Solkar at ESPNcricinfo