Who is Gurcharan Singh: All you need to know about legendary former India coach who has been conferred the Padma Shri
Gurcharan Singh, who has been conferred a Padma Shri, is integral to the story of the rise of Indian cricket post Independence.
The Indian government announced the 2023 list of Padma Awardees and among them is Gurcharan Singh, who has been integral to the story of the rise of Indian cricket since Independence. A former first class cricketer, Singh's coaching legacy includes hundreds of players who played Ranji Cricket and a dozen who went on to play international cricket. The 87-year-old had won the Dronacharya Award in 1987, becoming the second cricket coach after Desh Prem Azad to have won the accolade. On Wednesady, Singh was awarded the Padma Shri.
Born in Rawalpindi in March 25, 1935, Singh migrated to Patiala during the Partition of India in 1947. As a player he was a right-arm off break bowler and a right-handed batter. Singh played first class cricket for the erstwhile teams of Patiala and Southern Punjab. He ended his career after a six-year stint with Railways, where he shared a dressing room with the likes of Lala Amarnath, Dattu Phadkar, B. B.Nimbalkar, Nari Contractor, Budhi Kunderan and Vasant Ranjane. Singh player 37 first class matches, taking 44 wickets at an average of 33.50 and scoring 1198 runs with one century to his name. He eventually got a coaching diploma from the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala and became a coach there.
Singh eventually shifted to Delhi where he became head coach of the Sports Authority of India centre in the national capital. Singh later founded the Dronacharya Cricket Foundation in Delhi apart from running two cricket clubs, Delhi Blues and National Stadium Cricket Centre. He has coached over a hundred players who would play domestic cricket at the highest level in the country, 12 of whom - Surender Khanna, Kirti Azad, Maninder Singh, Sunil Valson, Vivek Razdan, Nikhil Chopra, Ajay Jadeja, Gursharan Singh, Murali Kartk, Gagan Khoda, Rahul Sanghvi and Vijay Mehra (who played for the UAE national team), went on to play international cricket.
Singh also coached the Indian team, then captained by Kapil Dev, for two years in 1986 and 1987 and also coached Maldives in 1985. Aged 87, Singh remains active in Delhi cricket, despite having retired from SAI almost three decades ago. A reminder of this was given on social media in December last year when a photo of him clad in full cricket gear and walking out to bat in a local match. A number of former students of the veteran coach reminisced their years playing under him while reacting to the image.
“I remember training under guchi paaji and his commitment towards cricket has been unmatchable,” commented a user. “Got coached by him in Yamuna sports complex about 15 yrs ago, was in 70s and still was so active in field, regularly bowled off spin in nets and rode bike as well, didn’t like when batsmen will leave ball in nets, promoter of bazball,” said another.
Former India captain and legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi, himself a tough task master, has very high regard for Guchi paaji. “His single passion and dedication in life has been cricket. Guchi paaji has been an example of humility and good old human values. He has been a selfless servant of cricket,” he is quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
