Gurcharan Singh (born 13 June 1935) is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

coach and former first-class cricketer. He coached 12 international and over 100 first-class cricketers, and is the second cricket coach to be awarded the

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ch ...

. He was also awarded the fourth highest civilian award

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

by the Indian government.

Life and career

Born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

on 13 June 1935, Singh came to

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

as a refugee during the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947. He started playing cricket under the guidance of

Maharaja of Patiala The Maharaja of Patiala was a maharaja in India and the ruler of the princely state of Patiala, a state in British India. The first Maharaja of Patiala was Baba Ala Singh (1695–1765). Yadavindra Singh became the maharaja on 23 March 1938. H ...

Yadavindra Singh Maharaja Sir Yadavindra Singh () was the 9th and last ruling Maharaja of Patiala from 1938 to 1971. He was also an Indian cricketer who played in one Test in 1934. Early life and family Born at Patiala City in Patiala State, within the ...

. Singh was a right-handed batsman and right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler who appeared in 37 first-class matches. The teams he represented include

, Patiala and Eastern Punjab States Union,

Southern Punjab South Punjab may refer to: *the southern part of the region of Punjab in South Asia *South Punjab (region), an historic region in the 8th–9th centuries; see Timeline of Pakistani history *two proposed provinces in this region in Pakistan: **Sara ...

and

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. Singh obtained a coaching diploma from

National Institute of Sports Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, commonly known as National Institute of Sports (NIS), is the Academic Wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Asia's largest Sports Institute located in city of Patiala. History Founded on 7 ...

in Patiala and became a coach there. He then became head coach at the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

centre in New Delhi. Some of his notable coaching assignments include coach of North Zone between 1977 and 1983, head coach of

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

in 1985 and coach of India national team from 1986 to 1987. During his tenure in Delhi, Singh survived the

anti-Sikh riots The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...

in 1984 with the help of his trainees. In 1992/93, he became director of Pace Bowling Academy, jointly started by Laxmibhai National College of Physical Education and the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

, in

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

. Singh started the Dronacharya Cricket Foundation in Delhi. As of 2012, he runs two cricket clubs called Delhi Blues (known as Veterans Club before 1987) and

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

Cricket Centre, taking the former on cricket tours to England every two years. In addition to more than 100 first-class cricketers, he coached 12 international cricketers including Maninder Singh,

Surinder Khanna Surinder Khanna (born 3 June 1956, in Delhi, India) is a former Indian cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Delhi and played ten One Day Internationals for India between 1979 and 1984. He was a Wicket-keeper. Born Surinder Khanna was bo ...

Kirti Azad Kirtivardhan Bhagwat Jha Azad (; born 2 January 1959) is an Indian politician and former cricketer and who played seven Test matches and 25 One Day International for the India national cricket team between 1980 and 1986. Azad was born in Darbh ...

Vivek Razdan Vivek Razdan () (born 25 August 1969) is a former Indian cricketer who played in two Tests and 3 ODIs between 1989 and 1990. After his retirement, he became a Delhi-based cricket coach and commentator. He attended St. Columba's School, Delhi a ...

Gursharan Singh Gursharan Singh (born 8 March 1963) is a former Indian cricketer who played in one Test and one One Day International in 1990. While appearing as a substitute for Roger Binny in the Third Test against West Indies in 1983 at Ahmedabad, he b ...

Ajay Jadeja Ajaysinhji Jadeja ( born 1 February 1971), known as Ajay Jadeja, is an Indian former professional cricketer, who was a regular member of the Indian cricket team between 1992 and 2000. He played 15 Test matches and 196 One Day Internationals f ...

Rahul Sanghvi Rahul Sanghvi (born 3 September 1974) is an Indian cricketer, specialising in left arm orthodox spin. He played for the Delhi state team. He played one Test match, which was the first Test between Australia and India in 2001 but was dropped a ...

and

Murali Kartik Murali Kartik (, born 11 September 1976) is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who sporadically represented the national team from 2000 to 2007. He was a specialist slow left arm orthodox bowler known for his loopy trajectory an ...

. Among the schools at which he trained cricketers are

Air Force Bal Bharati School Air Force Bal Bharati School (AFBBS) established 1955, is a senior secondary school situated on Lodi Road, New Delhi, India, and run by the Indian Air Force Educational and Cultural Society. It is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Edu ...

Sardar Patel Vidyalaya Sardar Patel Vidyalaya (SPV) is an education school located in Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, India. The school is named after a leader of the Indian independence movement, and independent India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sarda ...

, St. Columba's School, Arwachin Bharti School and Khalsa College. In 1987, he became the second cricket coach, after Desh Prem Azad (awarded in 1986), to be awarded the

, India's highest sport coaching honour.

References

External links

*
Journey of Gurcharan Singh- former cricket coach of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Gurcharan 1935 births Living people Indian cricketers Southern Punjab cricketers Patiala cricketers Railways cricketers Indian cricket coaches Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports