He shunned chemistry to be consumed by cricket

It was the final of the 1971 Ranji Trophy and the Bombay team looked like a Bombay University team. While Maharashtra was led by the experienced Chandu Borde, no Mumbaikar gave a semblance of a chance to Bombay, whose five stars – Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Sunil Gavaskar, Ashok Mankad and Eknath Solkar - were in the West Indies with the Indian team.
Bombay managed to beat Delhi and Bengal in the previous two matches, but Maharashtra was a formidable team. However, a day before the match, Chairman of the Mumbai selection committee, Vijay Merchant, said "Don't underestimate the cricketing intelligence of young captain Sudhir Naik."
After scoring 287, Bombay took a 57-run lead, but were bundled out for paltry 196 in the second innings leaving Maharashtra to get 253 to win the trophy. At the end of the fourth day, Maharashtra were five down for 144, needing 109 to win having lost Borde to a brilliant catch by Milind Rege off Shivalkar.
Sensing an easy win, the Maharashtra Cricket Association made arrangements for a celebration in a five star hotel. However, everyone was in for a shock. Next day, Sudhir Naik exerted a lot of pressure with attacking fields and Shivalkar did the rest. As predicted by Merchant, it was Naik, who handled his inexperienced resources excellently and put pressure all the time.
In another Ranji Trophy final, against Madras, in 1973 that ended in two days and one ball, it was Naik who stood upto Venkat and VV Kumar on a rank bad turner.
Dilip Vengsarkar, who played with Sudhir a lot and fondly calls him James, because he used to walk like James Bond, he says.
"Sudhir and I have played many matches together for Tatas and Mumbai. I shared a lot of partnerships with him. As a batsman, I found him technically very sound and an excellent player of fast bowling. In my second match, I shared an opening partnership of 250 runs with him for Mumbai against very good Baroda attack. He was a typical Mumbai player: mentally tough and disciplined. He was good as a captain too; a good student of the game, he knew how to get the best out of his players. He played the game the hard way and expected others to do the same."
A post graduate in chemistry from Bombay University, Naik didn't play more than three Tests. Though he was the highest run-getter in the side games in 1974 on the tour of England, he got to play the last Test. Playing against Geoff Arnold and Chris Old, he scored 77 on a seaming pitch.
The Wankhede wicket is the baby that Naik was never acknowledged for. When players of poor calibre criticise the wicket, he feels hurt. Says Vengsarkar, "As a curator, he is outstanding. Though he did not get the respect he deserves, he is by far one of the best I have seen in the business. In fact, his expertise must be used by all to produce bouncy wickets all across India, an aspect that needs to be addressed urgently to improve the quality of our first class cricket."
Naik would be justified in feeling hurt when something he nurtured with so much passion is not cared for. The authorities should have recognised his cricketing knowledge long ago. Now the least they can do is acknowledge his yeomen service to Mumbai cricket in a manner that is befitting his stature.