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Sandeep Patil was known for hitting sixes into the sea - however this was from the Hindu/ Parsi/ Islam Gymkhana grounds on Marine Drive, not the Wankhede Stadium. The club games would always attract a large crowd when Sandeep Patil was at the crease. One of his great post-playing days achievements was coaching the Kenya cricket team during the 2003 World Cup, when they made the semi-finals. Now, as n Indian selector he has been making tough calls, which the K. Srikanth led panel was reluctant to make.
Sandeep Patil was a real stroke maker and in the days when scoring at 2 runs per over was the norm in test cricket, he scored at much higher rate. I don't recall the exact test but in a late session on 4th day he scored almost 100 to move a test heading for a draw to result by giving India enough runs and time to bowl the opposition out. He could have served India well for many more years! He was also a great fielder. I also remember this guy - probably the most handsome batsmen I have ever seen - I mean he was good looking, had the physical presence and the way he used to punch rising deliveries into covers off the back foot - I just could not believe it. Just a little handsome flourish and it was gone. For many of my Mumbaikar friends, he was the man who displaced even Sunny as "our guy".

Its amazing that he went on to be a pretty handy coach and selector etc....he was a bit of a Philanderer in his playing days. Anyway, thanks to him for some incredibly joyous moments watching him bat. I got my frist glimpse of Sandip Patil before the Bangalore Test against Pakistan in 1979. It was a toss up between him and Roger Binny as to who would play. Finally Roger got the nod. I saw this ext remely macho cricketer walking back dejected,into the pavilion. That Pakistan team was unique. Most of them had this Packer mystique. Apart from that most of them were very good looking. I remember there was Majid in his typically Oxbridge walk.Zaheer anaemic with spectacles and every bit an intellectual Imran of regal disdain and of course balanced with Wasim Raja the brother of Rameez, whose father was from the Pakistan Civil Service and the unique Javed. Against such a bunch handsome men I thought India could have done with their own movie star in the form of Sandip Patil. It was not to be sadly. I had read about his exploits of in domestic games in erstwhile Bombay.and got to hear of his courage and big hitting later in Australia in 1980/81 against the formidable Lillee and Pascoe. He was an exciting batsman to watch.I remember a photograph of Sandip Patel in the Pakistani magazine The Cricketer captioned "India's Batsman of the Future." It seems he didn't fulfill his potential.
He should have been a batting great. He kept India alive in the series against the Aussies in 1981. I remember him getting hit by a Len Pascoe bouncer in Sydney (surprisingly he credits Rodney Hogg in his autobiography for this). He wore a helmet for the first time in this Adelaide innings you mention. One particular shot where he goes down on his knees to cover drive Dennis Lillee is still fresh in my memory. If I remember correctly he and Kapil Dev were dropped after India lost the Delhi test against Gower's English Team. He never really was the same player after that.
Yes Sandeep Patil was a conjurer of magic. A  familiar radio comment when he batted : Patil drives - four runs; the briefest pause between 'drives' and 'four'. Such was his stroke play, clean, elegant and yes, classy too - no ugly slog. In a way the dominant Indian batting style then was Gavaskar's - which as captain he tried to impose on the likes of Vengsarkar, Mohinder and Patil. Patil fell away unable to match his style with what was thrust upon. Even Vengsarkar survived the phase and came out of Gavaskar's shadow after Gavasakar was no longer captain and India was luckier with a more positive version of Vengsarkar. Possibly it did not help Patil was too new in the team and hence could not properly flower. I am a fan of Gavaskar's for his effectiveness as batsman and his conquering all conditions - but he was far too counter productive as captain. Sandip Patil was dropped after playing a rash shot in the Delhi test against England (along with Kapil Dev). He was replaced by a young kid named Azharuddin in the next test. Azhar went on to score 3 hundreds in his first 3 tests and there was no way back for Sandip Patil. Today cricketers get many chances before being dropped. In Patil's case it was just one bad shot and he his career was over.