Thane’s trio making a huge impact in the Indian cricket

The city of Thane is known for its beautiful lakes but very few are aware of its rich cricketing culture. The iconic Dadoji Konddeo Stadium has been a kind host to Ranji Trophy matches in the past which has seen players like Sachin Tendulkar smashing the ball all around the park. It is a matter of pride for Thane and Tendulkar family that Sachin’s son Arjun has also played at the Dadoji Konddeo stadium.

Thane’s Sudhir Vaidya, who has been compiling cricket statistics since 1957 has almost every record of Test Cricket matches played since 1876-77, one-day internationals played since 1970-71 and domestic cricket in India since its inception in 1892, told Thanevaibhav, “Thane district is proud to have given India four players in Khandu Rangnekar, Nilesh Kulkarni, Abhijit Kale, and Aavishkar Salvi. Besides, Thanekars like Tukaram Surve and Sulakshan Kulkarni played at the Ranji Trophy level. Also, we had international umpires like Piloo Reporter and M Y Gupte.” This is just the glimpse of the affluent cricketing culture.

At present, Thane is taking a lot of pride in the fact that three of its children are the head coaches of prominent men’s state cricket teams affiliated to the BCCI. Sulakshan Kulkarni is the coach of Tamil Nadu, a team led by former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik, Aavishkar Salvi is the coach of Punjab, a team that won Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023, and Omkar Salvi is the coach of Mumbai, which is a 41-time Ranji Trophy champion. Another interesting fact to note that Kulkarni has coached the Salvi brothers and now the trio is competing against each other at the highest level in the Indian domestic cricket.

The journeys of Kulkarni and Salvi brothers have been distinct and distinguished. Kulkarni, the senior-most among the three, was a wicket-keeper-batter, who played majority of his cricket for Mumbai with brief stints at Railways, Assam, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh. Aavishkar, on the other hand, played for Mumbai as a fast bowler and went on to represent India in ODIs. He even played the IPL for Delhi Daredevils. Like his younger brother Aavishkar, Omkar too was a fast bowler and represented Railways.

After their illustrious playing careers, Kulkarni and the Salvi brothers entered the field of coaching.

Kulkarni, who has played the most Ranji Trophy matches (66) as a Thanekar, began his coaching journey with Mumbai U19s, whom he trained for three years, before moving to Vidarbha and later coaching the central zone. Life came a full circle for Kulkarni when he was appointed as the coach of Mumbai. Under him, the team won the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy. He might not have played international cricket but he got the opportunity to coach an international team when he was appointed as one for Nepal in 2018. Further in 2019 he bagged an exciting offer to coach team India for Physically Challenged Cricket World Cup. It was historic as India went on to win the coveted World Cup. In 2023, he was bestowed with the responsibility of coaching Tamil Nadu, a team that is filled with former and present India cricketers and IPL stars.

Aavishkar, who had a bowling action similar to Australian legend Glen McGrath, he started his coaching career with Puducherry in 2018. Later, he was appointed as the bowling coach of Oman, which qualified for the T20 World Cup in UAE in 2021. After his international success, he came back to India and became the head coach of Punjab in 2022. Did you know besides his cricketing excellence, his academic quotient is equally good, thanks to a PhD in astrophysics?

Like his brother Aavishkar, Omkar stepped into the coaching field after hanging up his boots from playing. He may never have played in the IPL, but his prowess was recognised by Kolkata Knight Riders, who acquired his services as an assistant bowling coach. Similarly, Omkar never played for Mumbai, but it is a matter of huge honour for him to coach a champion team like Mumbai.

In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023, Kulkarni’s Tamil Nadu has played two matches at Dadoji Konddeo Stadium in Thane, the very ground on which the wicket-keeper-batter made his debut for Mumbai. However, since Punjab and Mumbai have no games in Thane, Aavishkar and Omkar will miss the homecoming.