His friends used to fondly call him "Vivian Richards of Mumbai" for the way he used to bat but Anil Gurav, one of Dronacharya Award winning coach late Ramakant Achrekar's earlier disciples, could never make the grade due to choices that he made and lived on to regret.

Gurav, who is said to have been one of Acherkar's best students but never made it to the Mumbai side beyond playing club-level cricket, passed away here on Tuesday at his residence in Nalasopara.