Sumitra, 89, passed away yesterday. She excelled in badminton during her younger days and teamed up with a certain Madhusudan Patil to sparkle in mixed doubles on the local badminton scene. Their on-court partnership ended up in marriage. Madhusudan, who passed away in 2003, also played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and captained the famous Shivaji Park Gymkhana team in the 1950s.

In his autobiography, Sandy Storm, Sandeep revealed that he got attracted to batting at an early age because his mother bowled her brand of spin to him at their Shivaji Park home. "She bowled to me in my childhood and I used to break window panes with my strokes, but not once did she scold me for doing so. Normally, a batsman gets dismissed, but today a bowler has departed.

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"However, my mother enjoyed a very fulfilling life," Sandeep told mid-day from his residence yesterday. Sumitra was as encouraging to Sandeep as her husband Madhusudan, but she, according to Sandeep in his book, "never allowed me to neglect my studies. But I guess she was right. And it was only because of my mother's constant watch over my studies that I was able to graduate and get a degree."

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