My first & last coach: Chamundeswarinath gives Rs 5L for Baig's treatment

Hyderabad: In what could be a kind gesture and a perfect 'guru-shishya' moment, former Andhra Ranji team captain and vice president of Telangana Badminton Association, V. Chamundeswarinath, has donated Rs 5 lakh for the treatment of his ailing veteran cricket coach, Mirza Rahmath Ullah Baig. He visited Baig, who has been hospitalised for severe infection from ulcers, along with national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand.

Baig, fondly called Baig Saab, has served as a coach for BCCI, Hyderabad Cricket Association and the Sports Authority of India. Throughout his career, Baig Saab has made a huge impact on the lives of many cricketers who have played for India and gone on to be legends of the game.

Cricketers like Kapil Dev, Shivlal Yadav, Shahed Akbar, Kirti Azad, Yograj Singh, Chamundeswarinath, Mohd Azharuddin, VVS Laxman, Venkatapathy Raju, Rahul Dravid, Sanjay Manjrekar, WV Raman, Kiran More, Chandrakant Pandit and MSK Prasad have been coached under Baig Saab.

After meeting his coach at Apollo Hospitals in Jubilee hills, Chamundeswarinath said, "In 1976, an all-India Under-22 BCCI camp was held at CCI, Bombay, for two months. Baig Saab was the chief coach for the camp. Cricketers including me, Kapil Dev, Shivlal Yadav, Kirti Azad, Yograj Singh and many others learnt a lot from him. He was my first and last coach. Never did I go to any academy to learn cricket. He has taught me everything in cricket." Earlier, Chamundeswarinath had gifted cars to Olympic medalists.

Recalling the role of the veteran coach, Pullela Gopichand said: "Baig Saab was a legendary coach. He produced many cricketers when I was getting trained by Hamid Hussain Sir at Fateh Maidan. Baig Saab used to be there and extend his advice."