Former Indian skipper Colonel Hemu Adhikari died on Saturday at a hospital in Thane district after a brief illness, family sources said in Mumbai.

He was 85.

The former stylish batsman was admitted to hospital with back problems.

Adhikari was also the Indian cricket team manager on the successful tour of England in 1971 when Ajit Wadekar's men won the Test series in England, played in 21 Tests scoring 872 runs which also included a superb hundred against the West Indies at New Delhi in 1948-49.

Adhikari, who had fine stint in first class cricket, scored 8628 runs at an average of 42.00 with a highest score
of 230 not out against Rajputana in the early '50s. He also had 18 first class centuries to his credit.