Sinha never became a businessman or corporate cricket coach, which is in vogue now, like gun for hire with different fancy theories of trying to work on mental set-up by confining people to 12x8 rooms with a bucket of water. He didn't want his coach to be without his own home. Similarly, another distinguished India international (he has warned his name can't be published) once came to know that he was leaving his rented accommodation as he had bought an apartment. His students loved him and he loved them back.Īakash Chopra had beautiful handwriting and the scores that he used to keep during academy games were his treasured possession. They don't even know what kind of talent Rishabh was when he came and what kind of maddening hard work he put in during those early teenage years," he had told a couple of reporters standing by his side. This correspondent remembers Sinha telling the father to come back after two hours and asked the boy to start doing physical drills. He is very passionate," the father had such expectation in his eye that would make one think that Sinha had some magic wand. This is my son, please make him a cricketer like Rishabh.
"I am from Rourkee, the city of Rishabh Pant. He was supremely proud of what Pant has achieved in his international career so far but he would never express it.Īnother story is about a middle-aged man arriving with his teenager son at the Venky's nets. Once during an interview with PTI, Pant's emotional answers struck a chord. He also arranged for a rented accommodation where he could stay as he pursued his cricketing ambition. Pant's story of staying at Gurdwara (which he did on a couple of occasions) became a myth but it was Sinha, who arranged for Pant's education in a Delhi school, from where he gave his 10th and 12th board exams.
Sinha told him to watch the "boy" for a couple of weeks before he came back. Sinha knew that not all of them would go on to become a Dhawan, Pant or Nehra and academics would give them a Plan B.Ī case in point is Pant, who was accompanied by his mother and spotted by Sinha's assistant Devender, who was then coaching in Rajasthan. In his mind it was always about unearthing the next best talent and seeing him in India colours.Īnother aspect of his coaching was that he would never ever let any student ignore his academics.Īny student who would turn up for training during his annual school or college exams would be sent back immediately and not allowed to practice till exams are over. Such was his devotion to cricket that he never thought of getting married. Then, he worked with a very young bunch of players that had Jhulan Goswami, Mithali Raj in its ranks.įor Sinha, Sonnet was family. The BCCI never used his expertise save once when it appointed him as the women's national team coach. There were a lot of coaches across India but very few was like Ustad ji who was a true blue talent scout.
The post-90s was the time he produced some of his better international players, which included Aakash Chopra, women cricketers including former national captain Anjum Chopra, all-rounder Rumeli Dhar along with pacer Ashish Nehra, Shikhar Dhawan, and possibly one of the brightest stars of Indian cricket, Rishabh Pant. Then there were the domestic heavyweights like KP Bhaskar, the batting mainstays during the mid 1980s to early 90s. Surinder Khanna, Manoj Prabhakar, the late Raman Lamba, Ajay Sharma, Atul Wassan, Sanjiv Sharma all of whom ruled Delhi cricket and also played for India. His earlier students included the stalwarts of Delhi cricket. Just have a look at the names and one would know why conferring him with a lifetime Dronacharya Award as late as 2018 was a sacrilege. His longtime assistant Devender Sharma, who has actively coached the likes of Rishabh Pant, was by his side. That's the reason why some of his most distinguished students (they don't want to be named) were keeping a tab on his health and making necessary arrangements till his last day. In nearly five decades, he nurtured, groomed and managed raw talent and through his club gave them a platform to perform and wings to fly. "Ustad ji", as his disciples reverentially referred to him, was not a grassroots level cricket coach. "It is with heavy heart we have to share this tragic news of Shri Tarak Sinha, the founder of Sonnet Club, has left us for heavenly abode at 3 am on Saturday after a brave battle with lung cancer for two months," the Sonnet Club said in a statement.
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