A devoted coach who guided the fortunes of many great players
Keki Tarapore, who passed away in Bangalore on Thursday, was the perfect example of the adage that one need not be a good player to be a good coach
Staff Reporter
13-Jul-2001
Keki Tarapore, who passed away in Bangalore on Thursday, was the
perfect example of the adage that one need not be a good player to be
a good coach. His playing credentials were modest. He played in only
one Ranji Trophy game, against Madras at Bangalore in 1945-46, scoring
2 and 6. A right hand batsman and a right arm medium pace bowler, he
went in at No 9. That remained the extent of his first class career.
But Tarapore was obviously a thinking man's cricketer, more interested
in the game's technical and cerebral qualities. If he was not good
enough to be a long term player, Tarapore made sure that he would help
produce a number of outstanding cricketers. Over a period of 30 years,
and more, there were few cricketers in Karnataka - or for that matter
India - who did not benefit from Tarapore's sage advice.
Joining the Rajkumari Sports Coaching Scheme in 1959 at the Brabourne
Stadium, Tarapore's first stint as a coach was in Jaipur. He coached
various Rajasthan teams for six months before coming to Bangalore to
work under the Karnataka (then Mysore) State Cricket Association. And
thus commenced his greatest period as a coach, which also led in turn
to the State enjoying their golden period. From 1960 to 1983, he was
the NIS coach for the state and from 1983 to 1991 he also worked as
the BCCI coach. For thirty one years, 1960 to 1991, he was the person
who guided innumerable talented players. And quite a few went on to
become outstanding cricketers. The list of players who had the good
fortune of benefiting from his benign advice read like a Who's Who of
Karnataka - and Indian - cricket. Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat
Chandrasekhar, Syed Kirmani, Gundappa Viswanath, Roger Binny, Brijesh
Patel, Raghuram Bhat, Sadanand Viswanath, Rahul Dravid, Javagal
Srinath, Anil Kumble. The list is endless - and outstanding. It
certainly wasn't a coincidence that Karnataka won the Ranji Trophy
three times - in 1973-74, 1977-78 and 1982-83 - when he was the coach.
During the annual summer coaching camps, Tarapore was a permanent
fixture at various grounds where he worked tirelessly for many years.
Along with the chief coach of the BCCI, Hemu Adhikari and in recent
years Hanumant Singh, Tarapore guided the fortunes of young
cricketers, many of whom went on to play for their states. It is well
known that many prominent Indian stars like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri,
Kiran More, Shivlal Yadav and Arshad Ayub came over frequently during
their playing days and were willing listeners to Tarapore's pearls of
wisdom.
Tarapore received the Rajyotsava award in 1991 from the then Karnataka
Chief Minister S Bangarappa for notable achievements in the field of
coaching. The Dronacharya award, the highest award in the country for
a coach, however eluded him.
A steady stream of Test cricketers, past and present, paid their last
respects to the coach whose devotion to the game was matchless.
Tarapore is survived by his wife, daughter and son, Shavir, who
besides playing six Ranji games for Karnataka in the eighties, is now
an international umpire who has officiated in ODIs since 1999.