If ever there was a highly enduring performer to wear the lion-crested Mumbai cap, it was Padmakar Shivalkar (1940-2025). The accomplished left-arm spinner passed away in Mumbai on Monday, a little over a month before his 85th birthday.

Shivalkar, Paddy to friends, succumbed to a prolonged illness but that did not prevent him from attending the golden jubilee celebrations of the Wankhede Stadium last month. After his Ranji Trophy debut in 1965-66, Shivalkar played continuously for Mumbai from 1967-68 till 1980-81, a span that included eight Ranji Trophy triumphs and four.