As the octogenarian passed away, those with grey hair recalled him as a batsman who played at the coveted No.3 in Mumbai line-up of 50s that had the likes of Mantri, Apte, Phadke, Manjrekar, Mankand and Ramchand. While many middle-aged Mumbai batsmen remembered Amladi as the veteran who always had a solution to their technical problems.

If one goes by records Amladi just played 5 Ranji games without a three-figure score but still his contribution to city's cricket was immense. As the old-timers never get tired of reminding that Amladi belonged to the era when playing for Mumbai was as good as playing for India.

While playing a college game at Grant Medical ground, Amladi caught the eye of the MCA's then-president HD Kanga. An inning of 284 saw him drafted to the Mumbai team. His highest score of 87 for Mumbai came against a Gujarat attack that had the likes of Jasu Patel.

Even after his retirement Amladi's bond with Mumbai cricket was never broken. He became the coach of Mumbai's under-17 team that had Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. It is said that Amladi always insisted on right technique. It was a perfect elbow position or a balanced stance that impressed Amladi more than a slog six.

He played for Dadar Union but used to conduct nets for young cricketers at Shivaji Park. Such was his involvement with the game that he from a grip of a young cricketer he could predict from which of the two clubs _ Dadar Union or Shivaji Park _ he hailed from.

A great collector of cricketing books Amladi loved to talk about the finer aspect of the game. He used to love having long chat session with cricketers after nets or at the end of day's play telling them how the greats played the game.

Another intriguing interest that Amladi had was his carpentry skills. He had a tool box at home where he used to mend broken bats. Whenever he found a discarded bat he used to take it at home, mend it and later present it to some young cricketer. Amladi's friends say that he must have presented some 150 bats to needy cricketers during his life time.