"You took care of me like your son, I am devastated" - Rishabh Pant pens an emotional tweet following the demise of his childhood coach Tarak Sinha

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant took to his Twitter account on Saturday to mourn the demise of legendary cricket coach Tarak Sinha. Sinha, 71, passed away on Saturday morning in New Delhi after a prolonged battle with lung cancer and multiple organ failure.

Pant wrote:

"My mentor, coach, motivator, my biggest critic and my greatest fan. You took care of me like your son, I am devastated.💔 You will always be with me whenever I walk out onto the field. My heartfelt condolences & prayers. May your soul rest in peace, Tarak sir. 🕊️🙏"

An iconic figure in the Indian cricket ecosystem, Sinha was only the fifth Indian coach after Desh Prem Azad, Ramakant Achrekar, Sunita Sharma and Gurucharan Singh to receive the coveted Dronacharya Award (2018) for nurturing and shaping three generations of men and women cricketers.

The 71-year-old coached the likes of Raman Lamba, Manoj Prabhakar, Mithali Raj, Randhir Singh, K.P Bhaskar, Atul Wassan, Aakash Chopra, Surender Khanna, Shikhar Dhawan, Pant, Sanjeev Sharma, Ajay Sharma, Ashish Nehra.

He also briefly worked with the Indian women's team, where he coached the likes of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami.

BCCI, former cricketers mourn the demise of Tarak Sinha

Sinha used to work at the Sonnet Cricket Club, which released a statement on the veteran's demise on Saturday morning.

The statement read:

"We want to thank each and everyone who has been by his side in these trying times and prayed for his recovery. We also want to appreciate the efforts put in by the doctors in Jaipur and Delhi who worked tirelessly to revive him. Tarak sir's pride was his students and their support through this period kept him going."

The statement continued:

"He was only thinking about grooming young talent during this battle. Even at the age of 70, he was enthusiastic about getting to the field and working on young cricketers. He was in good spirits till his last breath, believing he could still get up on his feet. It's a heavy day for all of us at Sonnet Club, the cricket fraternity and most importantly the students who have always seen him as a guardian.”

Apart from Pant, cricketers like Aakash Chopra and Jhulan Goswami took to their social media accounts to mourn the death of their former coach.

The BCCI also released an official statement expressing their heartfelt condolences to the Sinha family.