Desh Azad (2 February 1938 – 16 August 2013) was an Indian cricketer and cricket coach.

Desh Azad
Personal information
Full name
Desh Prem Azad
Born(1938-02-02)2 February 1938
Amritsar, Punjab Province, British India
Died16 August 2013(2013-08-16) (aged 75)
Mohali, Punjab, India
BattingRight-handed
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
Haryana
Career statistics
Competition FC
Matches 19
Runs scored 658
Batting average 20.56
100s/50s 0/5
Top score 83
Balls bowled 532
Wickets 8
Bowling average 40.75
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 2-51
Catches/stumpings 10/0
Source: ESPNcricinfo

Cricket career

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He played nineteen first-class cricket matches representing Haryana, Maharaja of Patiala's XI and Southern Punjab between 1953 and 1973 in which he scored 658 runs and took eight wickets.[1][2] He also served as match referee in two Under-19 matches between India and Australia in 2005.

Coaching career

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However, it was as coach that he was best known. India's 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev was the most famous of his students. The other cricketers he coached included Chetan Sharma who took the first hat-trick in Cricket World Cup history, Yograj Singh and Ashok Malhotra.

In 1986, he was honoured with the Dronacharya Award for his services to cricket coaching.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Desh Azad". ESPNcricinfo.
  2. ^ "Desh Azad". CricketArchive.
  3. ^ "Sports Awardees for "Dronacharya Award"". Archived from the original on 20 November 2012.
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