Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India between 1975 and 1987, before becoming a selector, and later, the coach of the national team.

As a batter, Gaekwad scored 1985 runs from 70 Test innings, with a highest score of 201 against Pakistan in 1982-83, where he patiently batted for 671 minutes - then the slowest ever double-century in first-class cricket.

He also famously made 81 in Jamaica against a West Indies side boasting the likes of Michael Holding in its attack - a feat rendered doubly impressive by the fact that it came in an era when there were neither helmets nor restrictions on bouncers. Gaekwad had to have an operation after he was stung on the ear by a Holding bouncer that punctured his eardrum. He signed off his playing career on a high, with a hundred in his last first-class match.

Gaekwad had two separate stints as India coach between 1997 and 200. He first took over in the Sachin Tendulkar era where he oversaw a period of transition, and later came back in the middle of the match-fixing saga, after Kapil Dev's resignation for a brief time while a permanent appointee was being finalised.