Desh Prem Azad, the Former Coach of Cricketer Kapil Dev, Died at 75

Desh Prem Azad, the former coach of cricketer Kapil Dev, died on 16 August 2013 at a hospital in Mohali, near Chandigarh. He was 75 years of age. He died because of cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Life Sketch of Desh Prem Azad

• Desh Prem Azad was lately at the post of director at the Punjab Cricket Association's non-residential academies.
• He trained cricketers such as Kapil Dev, Ashok Malhotra, Chetan Sharma and Yograj Singh in the late 70s.
• He also won the Dronacharya award - the highest national honour for a coach.
• He ran his own cricket academy at St Stephen's School in Chandigarh from 2006 to 2012.
• He was associated with the Pace Academy at Sector 17 Stadium in 1990s.
• He also played a role in developing cricketers such as Harbhajan Singh and Venugopal Rao.
• He was among the founders of the Chandigarh Golf Association.
• Desh Prem Azad represented Haryana, the Maharaja of Patiala's XI and Southern Punjab, while playing 19 first-class matches. In these matches, he scored 658 runs while grabbed 8 wickets in all.
• He served as the match referee in two Under-19 matches between India and Australia in the year 2005.