‘If Scotland can do it, Norway also can,’ said Lalchand Rajput when he visited Trondheim, Norway, on the 5th of October 2011 during the ‘India Week’ organised by the city government and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

I and my friend Dr. Pascal Klebert, who was and still is a scientist based in Trondheim, fondly recall having had dinner with Lalchand at an Indian restaurant in the city after his lecture, and interactions with the cricket-loving men in the city (not just South Asians, but also students from Belgium and France).

Lalchand has taken over as head coach of the up-and-coming Afghanistan cricket team. The Afghan cricketers have despatched a wave a fresh energy and impetus through the cricketing world of late, and shown how sports in general can heal wounds and foster friendship and hope and progress. Readers know that Lalchand had also applied for the position of Head Coach of Team India, which Anil Kumble eventually took over. Lalchand replaced Inzamam ul-Haq and kicked off with a tour of Scotland (where he himself played some cricket once upon a time), Ireland and the Netherlands. He holds Inzy in high regard and thinks that he would have set very high standards for the Afghan team.

Lalchand Rajput may have played only 2 Test matches and 4 ODIs for the Indian national team way back in the 1980s, but he has had a distinguished career in domestic cricket (playing for Mumbai, Vidharbha and Assam over the years) as cricket coach, manager and administrator over the years, having held important posts with the Mumbai Cricket Association.

He was, inter alia, coach of the under-19 Indian cricket team, the manager of the Indian national T20 team in 2007 (during the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa), and coach of the Mumbai Indians in the 2008 edition of the IPL. Lalchand has had this penchant for taking up little challenges and making noteworthy differences to the fortunes of lesser-known teams in the past. Assam was an example; Vidarbha was another. And then there was his time playing in Scotland earlier on in the 1980s.

Lalchand, to me, has always come across as an ambassador of the game of cricket, speaking not for India, but for Cricket. He has always wanted to make cricket popular world-over, and bring it to the level of football, as far as popularity and adoption by enthusiasts is concerned. I recall his response to a question from the audience about how Norway, with its difficult and challenging climatic conditions can aspire to do well in cricket – ‘Does not Scotland have similar challenges? But it was the will which mattered for the Scots who made their way to the ICC World Cup in 2011. And of course, Norwegians can avail of indoor cricket facilities and counter the challenges posed by the bitterly cold weather for close to six months of the year.’

Lalchand’s emphasis during his speech that day on ‘mental toughness, stoicism, equanimity in victory and defeat’ has rubbed off on the Afghans who, Insha’llah, will rise further in the years to come, just as the Lankans did in the 1990s.

He also pointed out that all humans are not the same, and that applies to cricketers as well. Having this as one’s credo – and a strong one at that – is a plus point for any coach (sports or otherwise).

I contacted Lalchand a few days after he had been assigned the responsibility of coaching the Afghans, and asked him a few questions...

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‘I like challenges in general and they bring out the best in me…It has always been so,’ was what he said.

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Of course, Afghanistan would get to play against the Indian national team sometime during Lalchand’s tenure as coach. Lalchand looks forward to urging his wards to learn from their opponents, even while trying to defeat them. And he believes that they would have a lot to learn from the Indian cricketers whenever they get a chance to play against them. It is a good thing, Lalchand says, that the ‘home ground’ of the Afghan national team is in Greater Noida, India. Hence, he would be based there, not far from Mumbai, where he and his family stay. Family support is extremely crucial when one takes up new assignments – any assignment for that matter. And Lalchand has that as a ‘tailwind’.

It is very noble and commendable of Lalchand to speak thus:

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‘I am extremely happy that Anil Kumble has been selected as the head coach of the Indian team. He is a man of great stature and the Indian youngsters are bound to benefit a great deal from his presence in the dressing room. I would want the Indian team to rise to greater heights in the months to come, and wish Anil all the very best.’

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Great words from a modest man whose simplicity has got him the respect of several people, yours sincerely being one of them.

Rajgopal Nidamboor, a Mumbai-based cricket-writer, has this to say about Lalchand, inter alia - "Lalchand Rajput is a coach for all seasons. He brings a new kind of respectability in an age where anything you do is aimed to be a 'headline grabber'. He represents good old values... [He] is a diligent leader and a tactician-strategist with a self-effacing sense of humility. He is just what the doctor ordered for the shaping and channelising of Afghan cricket.”

Getting shortlisted for selection as head coach of the Indian team was one step forward for Lalchand. His current assignment is another one forward. And there will be many more – coaching other foreign teams before a ‘homecoming’.

I wish him all the best; and the Afghanistan team as well.

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