R. Sridhar of Coaching Beyond and former India fielding coach has revealed that T. Dilip had refused to apply for the fielding coaching job of the Andhra Ranji team a few years ago, despite being offered a huge salary.
“He said his only aim was to join the NCA,” Sridhar said at a gala event organised by Coaching Beyond on Friday.
“Later, when I told him to apply for the India fielding coaching job, he politely asked me if I was joking. But when I finally did, Dilip outperformed Jonty Rhodes in the interview and joined India-A under the mentorship of Rahul Dravid. The rest is history,” Sridhar said amid applause.
“It’s just sheer hard work and the way Dilip has overcome the obstacles is really inspiring. What’s important is that he has taken it one step at a time in his 20-year career to the top as a fielding coach for Team India and been part of a T20 World Cup winning team,” he added.
“I am delighted to be here with these two gentlemen (Man Singh and Dileep) who created magical moments in the 1983 World Cup and the 2024 T-20 World Cup respectively,” Sridhar said.
P.R. Man Singh, head coach of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team, has appealed to the Telangana government to congratulate T. Dileep, the fielding coach of the Indian team that won the recent T20 World Cup in West Indies.
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“Dilip is one of the Hyderabad natives who, along with Mohammed Siraj, has contributed significantly to the recent wins by the Rohit Sharma-led team. While it is good that Siraj has been felicitated, the support staff like Dilip must be acknowledged for their efforts behind the scenes,” said Man Singh, who was the chief guest.
Recalling his comments about Kapil Dev’s contribution to the World Cup win, Man Singh said Kapil’s memorable catch to send back Sir Viv Richards in the final was all down to the captain’s efforts and there was nothing he had to do.
“Unlike now, when players like Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav take great catches, it is because of the hard work of many members of the squad, especially the support staff,” he said.
Responding to the congratulations, Dilip said he was delighted that years of hard work and passion for what was a “truly amazing journey” had paid off.
“Failure is not a defining characteristic. It has to be backed up by a solid effort and kept coming back,” he said.
“I owe a lot to John Sir (K. John Manoj, former HCA secretary and co-founder of Coaching Beyond), R bhai (former India fielding coach R. Sridhar) and all my fellow coaches and players for their immense support over the years,” Dilip said. “R Bhai has always guided me whenever I looked up to him,” Dilip concluded.
