A tribute to the 'Unsung Teachers' of Indian Cricket

Guru Govind Donon Khade, kaake Lagun Pain

Balihari Guru aapne, Govind Diyo Milay

Above lines from Kabir emphasizes the importance of teachers in one’s life and in fact places the teacher above god. Like in any other walks of life, the role of the teacher is of paramount importance in cricket. Walk into the numerous maidans of Mumbai or any other Indian city for that matter and you will find a person tirelessly working with young cricketers’ day after day. This man may not get the limelight that the coach of the Indian cricket team would get, but his role is extremely critical. Most of these men remain unsung heroes all their lives.

Noted writer Ayaz Memon had once written, “Almost every big-ticket player I can think of from the past four-five decades traces his growth back to that one person from his formative years who made him worthwhile to play at the highest level. Happily, most acknowledge this”. And it is in these acknowledgments wherein lies the prize for these selfless men. Today, on Teacher’s Day, we look at the coaches of some of the famous cricketers.

#1 Ramakant Achrekar

Now, if your ward goes on to break all the possible batting records, then people will come to know about you. So, thanks to Sachin Tendulkar and his batting exploits, the cricketing world is aware of the existence of a certain Ramakant Vithal Achrekar.

Numerous stories have been said and written about Achrekar and his teaching methods. However, one story which I came across recently speaks a thing or two about his sincerity. The story goes back to a morning at the Shivaji Park in Dadar in the mid-1960s. The boys were going through the daily routine as prescribed by their coach and it seemed to be just like any other day. But there was one difference, Coach Ramakant Achrekar was not to be seen. As Kunal Purandare writes in his book ‘Master Blaster’s Master’, “This has never happened before. It is unusual that the boys have to wait for him. ‘Achrekar Sir’, as the boys call him, is always the first to reach.”

Achrekar Sir did arrive a few minutes later and started with his routine. And the reason behind the delay was that he had lost his son (who had died immediately after birth) a few hours ago. When Suresh Shastri (Achrekar’s first official student) asked him about why he came to the ground, Sir’s reply was, “I lost one son, but my other sons are here. How could I leave them”

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#2 Keki Tarapore

If you want to understand the importance of Keki Tarapore, then ask it to the likes of Gundappa Viswanath, Brijesh Patel, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Syed Kirmani, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath or Anil Kumble. All these greats of the game have benefited from the guidance of Tarapore.

Keki Tarapore began his coaching career with the Rajkumari Sports Coaching Scheme in 1959 at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay (now Mumbai) and later shifted to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) to work under the Mysore Cricket Association. With him as the coach, the Karnataka team won the Ranji Trophy title three times – 1973-74, 1977-78 and 1982-83. His best testimony came from Rahul Dravid, who had said, “The fact that I am playing at this level, is due to the early training and the well-drilled basics that I got from Keki Sir”.

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#3 Rajkumar Sharma

“I am really blessed to have him as my guru. I owe my cricket to him. He has always been there in my tough times. His technical inputs helped me develop as a cricketer.”

These are the words of Indian captain Virat Kohli about his coach Rajkumar Sharma as mentioned in his biography ‘Driven’ by Vijay Lokapally. Such is the impact of Rajkumar on Kohli that despite having access to the best cricketers of the world, he remains the go-to man for Kohli.

And Virat doesn’t hide his love and respect for his mentor. On the Teacher’s Day in 2014, he gave a gift to his coach in his own style. Vikas (Kohli’s brother) went to Rajkumar’s house while Virat was away in the US. As soon as he entered, he handed over his cell phone to Rajkumar. ‘Happy Teacher’s Day Sir’, said Virat on the line. Simultaneously, Vikas gave a key to Rajkumar and requested him to come out. A new Skoda Rapid was parked at the gate and this was Virat’s gift to his coach.

Rajkumar said, “The gift was great but I was floored by the style and the execution. Look at the sentiments.”

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#4 Desh Prem Azad

In a tribute to Desh Prem Azad, it was written, “Chandigarh’s Sector 16 coaching center, where Azad honed the skills of young, impressionable boys, was the center of his life, an abode where his writ ran. He was, in the tradition of Indian gurus, a man whose word was law and no one dared defy his instructions”.

Azad was the coach to cricketers like Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ashok Malhotra & Yograj Singh. So, not surprisingly, one place where I found Azad’s name was in the book – ‘The World of Kapil Dev’. Interestingly, Azad initially doubted Kapil’s sincerity to the game and was convinced that he was no good. This was mainly due to his feeling that Kapil used to smoke & drink.

But it ended well and Kapil writes, “Azad Saab finally realized that I had potentital and decided to take up the matter with my parents”. And rest, as they say, is history.

Acknowledging Azad’s role in his career, Kapil had once said to ESPNcricinfo, “If I achieved anything, a lot of credit goes to him. He coached me from the beginning of my career. I remember the first day I went to the stadium and I only learnt from him. He was more of a friend to me later on, he was not just a coach.”

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#5 Tarak Sinha

Tarak Sinha & the Sonnet Club are synonymous with cricket in Delhi. Some of his famous wards are Atul Wassan, Manoj Prabhakar, Raman Lamba, Ashish Nehra, Anjum Chopra, Akash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan & Rishabh Pant among others.

There is a bit of story behind the formation of the Sonnet Club as well. Apparently, Sinha had founded the club in 1969 after he failed to get selected in Delhi’s junior team for the CK Nayudu Trophy. It catered to kids from the middle & lower-class families.

The latest entrant to Indian cricket, Rishabh Pant said, “There is only one coach for me and that is Tarak Sir. He is not a father figure. Tarak Sir is my father”.

Tarak Sinha also played a key role in Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy victory in 2010-11. When he was once asked if was disappointed with the fact that he remained an unsung coach, he said, “Not really. I am just happy that I continue to produce good cricketers”.