On Monday, renowned former International Player and Basketball Coach, Rajesh Patel (62), who was known as the ‘Dronacharya of Basketball’, passed away after suffering cardiac arrest at Panipat, as he was escorting his team to Ludhiana.

Known for fueling the passion of hundreds of girls from the underprivileged sections, Patel had trained players like Anju Lakra who was just 5’2’’ and conscious of her short stature.

“He took the height out of the equation. He said you need only two things to win a fight —speed and defense. Run and shoot like a bullet, he would say,” Lakra recalled.

“Most of us were tribal girls who suffered from malnutrition and didn’t look anything like athletes. I belong to a scheduled tribe, but Patel sir ensured that I became a high-ranking railway officer, a TT, on the basis of my basketball. He really saw no limitations in anyone—of physique or background. He helped us break free,” she added.

Patel was on his way to Ludhiana for the ongoing junior national championships when he suffered a cardiac arrest at Panipat. Chhattisgarh has reached the Senior National finals twice, winning famously against Railways all because of the players coached and mentored by Patel.

He helped a lot of female players in achieving their best, like Seema Singh who was tall, but knock-kneed and had been told by the doctors, when she was 11, that she would never be able to play a sport. It was Patel who took it upon himself to strengthen her body and also sculpted her game.

“I’d cried after doctors told me that. Sir made me run on sand. He made me eat properly. From struggling for two square meals to traveling abroad, from being nothing to a respected railway TT with several promotions only because of basketball, he changed everything,” she said. “Life would’ve stayed plain—nothing exceptional. He gave us confidence, and this was when Chhattisgarh was just born as a state.”

H/T: The Indian Express