Gurcharan Singh: Great master with adaptability

'It’s all in the mind' is a commonly used phrase, but to understand the essence of it, one should meet respected cricket coach Gurcharan Singh, whose face is the only part that reflects his age. Otherwise he is as sound, as fit and as enthusiastic as any of his young trainees.

All you have to do is say the magic word 'cricket’ in front of him and you can see a twinkle in his eyes and get him to talk about his passion in life.

This Dronacharya awardee’s zeal is simply unmatched and he can bring a youngster to shame with his sheer dedication and hard work on the cricket field.

When asked what keeps him going, the gentle coach puts it simply: "I played my first Ranji Trophy match in 1953 and there on I never looked back. I never expected too much from life and everything came to me on its own and much before time. The best part is I am still playing and I am hail and hearty."

Dedicating his life to cricket, he has virtually built with his own hands what will be any coach's delight – a sports complex in a corner of Delhi where he imparts all his valuable cricketing knowledge to talented youngsters.

As an employee of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) and later the Sports Authority of India (SAI), he produced quite a few international players like Ajay Jadeja, Maninder Singh, Kirti Azad, Gursharan Singh and Surender Khanna apart from a host of others who turned out for Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and other state teams.

Not the one to take it easy after his retirement, he now runs his own academy on a piece of land allotted to him by the Delhi Development Authority, which was looking for someone to use the facility well to house a coaching centre. Along with his former trainee Maninder, he invested some one lakh rupees and now has as trainees, several who are knocking the doors of first-class cricket.

"When we started the coaching centre, we never knew that we would get such a good response. At a time, we train 150 boys, hence many are on the waiting list. But during the summer vacation (April, May and June) we arrange for special camps and in those camps we divide them in the category of age groups of 8-12, 13-16, 16-19 and above-19. And after the camp is concluded, we shortlist promising players and invite them for further coaching," explained the proud coach.

A strict disciplinarian - Gurcharan can be extremely tough with his pupils but with his father-like-care, he has won the love and respect of each one of his wards. He is known to sponsor the education of some of the trainees who cannot afford school fees. The talented youngsters from poor background were known to collect money from him for buying refreshments, equipment as well as transport allowance.

Previous articles:

Dinesh Lad: The burnisher behind the scenes

Manabendra Ghosh: From coach to mentor

Achrekar 'Sir': Champion maker at dusk

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