Cricket coach Mirza Rahmatullah Baig passes away

Baig Saab, as he was fondly called, had made the Lal Bahadur Stadium, the hub of cricketing activity in Hyderabad, his second home for decades.

Coach M.R. Baig giving tips to a youngster at the sports coaching foundation’s ‘fast bowlers camp’ at the ground in Masab Tank, Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: K. Ramesh Babu/The Hindu

One of the finest cricket coaches from Hyderabad, Mirza Rahmatullah Baig, passed away on Sunday. He was 84.

He represented Services and Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy and also played the Duleep Trophy for North and South Zones.

Baig Saab, as he was fondly called, had made the Lal Bahadur Stadium, the hub of cricketing activity in Hyderabad, his second home for decades.

Baig used to oversee national camps at the LB Stadium. The Indian team which won the 1983 World Cup also trained at the ground.

The list of players who trained under Baig includes Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, and MSK Prasad.

However, the Hyderabad Cricket Association, never sought Baig’s services and he was mostly confined to LB Stadium followed by other coaching centres like Sports Coaching Foundation (Masab Tank), ML Jaisimha Academy.