Former Baroda fast bowler Narayan Satham passes away

Narayan Satham was part of Baroda’s pace trio which also included Cecil Williams and Anthony Fernandes. He was ‘instrumental in making me a cricketer with his discipline’, says former India international Aunshuman Gaekwad.

Narayan Satham played for Baroda between 1967 and 1985. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Former Baroda fast bowler Narayan Satham passed away on Sunday. He was 72.

A right-arm medium-fast bowler, Satham featured in 84 first-class and 8 List A games for Baroda between 1967 and 1985. Having made his debut at the age of 18, Satham eventually became part of Baroda’s pace trio which also included Cecil Williams and Anthony Fernandes.

In his long career, Satham claimed 193 wickets in first-class cricket and 5 List A scalps, besides scoring 3119 runs, batting in the lower-order. He led Baroda in Ranji Trophy and also represented West Zone in the Duleep Trophy and also played against touring Sri Lankan and English teams.

After retiring from cricket, he coached several teams - including the Singapore national U-19 and senior teams - and also coached Baroda at different levels and trained several cricketers, including Kiran More, Irfan Pathan and Tushar Arothe.

In 2008, Satham along with Aunshuman Gaekwad, Nayan Mongia and Williams formed the Veteran Cricketers Association to help young, aspiring cricketers. The VCA got the approval from the Baroda Cricket Association after six years.

Former India international and Satham’s old friend Gaekwad lauded him for helping him become a better cricketer. “We had a very deep friendship. He was more than a family to me, besides being friends. We grew up together, though he was senior to me by two years. Right from school, university, Ranji Trophy, we played together throughout,” Gaekwad told Sportstar.

“He was instrumental in making me a cricketer with his discipline. I was not a promising cricketer in school or even in university. He was our captain in the university team and he made sure I did what I did. He treated him on a par with everyone and that helped me become stronger mentally, physically and also learn the hard way. He always believed in me,” Gaekwad, a former India coach, who is now the head of the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA), said.

Several of his wards, too, took to social media to pay their homage to their beloved ‘Satham Sir’. “Narayan Satham sir is no more. He was our U-16 coach He helped many Baroda cricketers with his commitment to the game. May God give his family patience to go pass this demise. #RIP,” Pathan wrote on his social media handle.

As an administrator, Satham was the chairman of cricket improvement committee (CIC) of the Baroda Cricket Association. He was also a member of the BCA managing committee until his resignation in 2018.