Social media erupted in praise for Amol Muzumdar, the uncapped legend who waited decades for his moment. From playing alongside Sachin and Kambli to winning the World Cup, fans hailed his journey as the ultimate redemption story.
On a bright spring morning in 1988, two 13-year-olds were scripting history at the Sassanian ground in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were in the midst of their legendary 664-run partnership for Shardashram Vidyamandir against St Xavier’s in the Harris Shield semi-final, a world record that would catapult both into cricketing stardom. But there was a third boy in that story, one whose name has been whispered in domestic cricket circles for decades but never announced on the international stage. Amol Muzumdar, the next batsman in, remained padded up for two full days, practicing in the nets, checking the scoreboard, and waiting for his turn that never came. “I took a knock on day one and batted in the nets at the end of the day’s play. I did the same early morning the next day, but then I realised I was not going to get a chance to bat,” Muzumdar later recalled. When Shardashram finally declared at 748, Tendulkar and Kambli were still unbeaten. Muzumdar’s pads came off without a single stroke in the middle.It took 37 years for his dream to come true, not as a player but as the world-cup winning coach for the Indian women’s cricket team.
“Absolutely proud. I don’t know, it has not yet sunk in. Unbelievable achievement and they deserve every credit and everything that will follow from here. They have worked terribly hard. They have done every Indian proud,” Muzumdar said after the win. He stressed that the world cup victory was a watershed moment for Indian cricket and praised the team for working extremely hard. “We did not look at those losses as losses, we looked at them as matches we couldn’t get over the line. We dominated majority of those games, and just thought there were some hiccups. We stayed alive in the tournament and here we are, as world champions,” he added.
Social Media Hails Amol Muzumdar
As news of India’s World Cup triumph spread across the nation, social media erupted with tributes to Amol Muzumdar. Cricket fans, journalists, and former players took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate not just the victory, but the poignant journey of a coach who understood what it meant to persevere against the odds. “Amol Muzumdar was padded up when Sachin and Kambli had 664 run partnership. He kept on waiting… Sadly this was a trend which continued, he kept waiting but never got the national call up. But today he is a world champion, maybe this is what they call God’s plan,” wrote one social media user on X, capturing the essence of Muzumdar’s journey from that day in 1988 to his moment of redemption in 2025.
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For those who had followed Muzumdar’s career from the beginning, the World Cup win felt particularly significant. “If you had told me in 1994 that Amol Muzumdar would NEVER play for India, not even a single ODI, I would’ve bet against you. After Sachin, Vinod, Amre, Bedade, it seemed he would get at least one chance. But nope. Good to see him being part of this triumph,” reflected Gaurav Sabnis. The parallels with other Indian coaching success stories weren’t lost on observers either. Sarah Waris noted, “Gary Kirsten: Never played a WC final. Rahul Dravid: Never won the WC. Amol Muzumdar: Never played for India. All WC champions as coaches with India.”
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Perhaps the most comprehensive tribute came from Parth MN, who posted on X: “Life has come full circle for Amol Muzumdar. He is one of the greatest cricketers to never play for India. He announced himself as the next big thing, scoring 260 on his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai. He didn’t stop there. He went on to score over 11,000 more and absolutely bossed domestic cricket along the way. Sadly, he played in an era when the Indian middle order had Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly. In 2014, he retired from first class cricket, ending his illustrious career that lasted 21 years. But he never wore the illusive India cap. 11 years after retirement, as the coach of the Indian women’s team, he lifts the ODI World Cup. It’s a story of grit, resilience and redemption. It’s got a bit of Kabir Khan in it, isn’t it? That too on SRK’s 60th birthday.” The statistics also told their own story of excellence denied its natural stage. As one social media user pointed out, Amol Muzumdar had scored the second most most runs in Ranji Trophy (9205 runs, next to Wasim Jaffer).
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Former India opener Abhinav Mukund, who played alongside Muzumdar, also paid tribute to the coach on social media. “I met him first in an U 15 national camp. He wasn’t the best or fittest then—but with the same passion of becoming the best in the country. He became my U 19 captain after that and led the team to the title. 2 years later we wound up making our test debuts in the same game. And after many years in the wilderness ended up making my comeback for India under him. Imagine 75 kids in a national camp when you are 15. The resolve and the skill to become one of the best in the world. From a competitor to a friend to a fan. I know I am a little late to this but it took me a while to compose my thoughts. This is a man who has lived all of our dreams as 15 year olds—not only representing our country but becoming one of the best,” Mukund wrote.
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