T. Dilip (third from left), fielding coach of victorious T20 World Cup winning Indian team, felicitated by Coaching Beyondโs R. Sridhar (extreme left), 1983 World Cup winning team manager P.R. Man Singh, and K. John Manoj, co-founder of Coaching Beyond and former Secretary of HCA, in Hyderabad
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
P.R. Man Singh, manager of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team, appealed to the Telangana Government to felicitate T. Dilip, fielding coach of the Indian team which won the T20 World Cup in West Indies recently.
โDilip, is also one more Hyderabadi apart from Mohamed Siraj, who had immensely contributed to Rohit Sharma-led teamโs victory recently. It is good that Siraj was felicitated but we should recognise the kind of efforts these support staff like Dilip put up behind the scenes,โ said Man Singh, who was the chief guest at the felicitation function of Dilip put up by Coaching Beyond here on Friday.
Reflecting on the reference made to his contribution to Kapil Devโs World Cup victory, Man Singh said as far as Kapilโs memorable catch to send back Sir Viv Richards in the final was concerned, it was all because of the captainโs efforts and that he had nothing to do.
โUnlike then, when someone like Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav take those brilliant catches, it is because of all the hard work of many members of the squad, especially support staff,โ he said.
Responding to the felicitation, Dilip said he felt great to be on the right side of the result after years of hard work, and passion in what had been a truly โbeautiful journeyโ for him. โA failure doesnโt define. You have to keep coming back strongly backed by solid efforts,โ he said.
โI owe a lot to John Sir (K. John Manoj, former HCA Secretary and co-founder of Coaching Beyond), R bhai (former India fielding coach R. Sridhar) and all my fellow coaches and players for their great support over the years,โ Dilip said. โR Bhai always guided me whenever I looked up to him,โ he added.
R. Sridhar of Coaching Beyond and former India fielding coach revealed that T. Dilip refused to apply for a fielding coaching assignment with Andhra Ranji team a few years ago despite a heavy pay packet offered.
โHe told me that his focus was only on joining NCA one day,โ Sridhar said. โLater, when once I informed him to apply for the Indian fielding coach assignment, he politely enquired whether I was joking. But, when he did eventually, Dilip fared better than Jhonty Rhodes and joined the India-A under Rahul Dravidโs mentorship. The rest is history,โ Sridhar said amidst applause.
