England vs India: Tarak Sinha Completes Full Circle as a Coach After Test Debut of Rishabh Pant

It was a proud moment for Rishabh Pant when he received his maiden Test cap from Indian skipper Virat Kohli ahead of the 3^rd Test against England in Nottingham. However, there was one man in his 60’s who got pretty emotional seeing his disciple make his Test debut. It was none other than Pant’s childhood coach Tarak Sinha.

With Pant donning the Test whites a different kind of satisfaction engulfed Tarak Sinha. He has produced 11 Test cricketers ahead of Pant but Tarak Sinha’s circle wasn’t complete yet. A man who nurtured talent in the Sonnet Cricket Club was very satisfied after Pant made his Test debut. It was a big moment for his family as well.

Tarak Sinha recalls his time as a coach 

Recalling his times as a coach, Sinha recalled that there is a huge difference between players who came to him in the 80’s and the 90’s and the players who come to him today. There are a lot of differences between the players who came to me in the 80s and the ones who have been coming over the last decade,” Sinha was quoted as saying by Times of India. “The players in the 80s and 90s were very sincere. They wanted to play cricket. Now you have to keep motivating them to keep coming back to the ground,” he said.

“For example, Prabhakar would take a train from Ghaziabad, reach the ground, arrange the nets and the matting pitches and then practice. He would keep the things in his place and make sure he doesn’t miss his train back. Now, the boys know they have the facilities ready for their nets,” Sinha points out the basic difference before listing the most interesting one: “The players of 80s and 90s would be engrossed in cricket’s history. They would love to listen about the Wally Hammonds, Bradman’s, Ranjis and historical landmarks of cricket,’ he added.

Pant had a sensational start of his Test career. The pocket-sized dynamite came dancing down the track to smash Adil Rashid for a straight six to open his account in Test cricket. It was just the 2^nd delivery he faced in his Test career. When asked about that particular shot Pant said that it is his natural game and he will keep going for the shots if the ball is in his arc.

Rishabh Pant is a special cricketer to Tarak Sinha 

Sinha stated that Pant is a very special cricketer. “This boy is very special to me. Now that he is also seen as a potentially good Test cricketer, I feel good that I could keep up with the changing times. I prefer the conventional ways of cricket. But I had to understand that these boys need to play IPL as well.” Then he adds: “I am not a highly qualified coach. I have just observed the game closely. And I am fortunate I have got wards like Prabhakar, Nehra, Sanjeev Sharma, Aakash Chopra and now Rishabh. They have always come back to me even as they played the highest level of cricket,” he said.