“He was a coach’s delight, we miss a lot at the nets and at the Academy” was the words said by Irfan Sait, Director, Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC) remembering Ashwath Aiyappa, who passed away recently trying to save his elder brother Dr. Akhil Kuttappa at Chiklihole in Kodagu on Apr. 17.

Four days after the incident, Ashwath’s coach Irfan Sait was in KIOC Mysore Centre. When spoke about Ashwath’s personality, Irfan Sait said Ashwath was an intricate cricketer and a student of the game.

Speaking about their last meeting, Irfan Sait said that Ashwath spent nearly three hours with him discussing about the match that was to be played on Friday and Saturday. Ashwath, who represented Swasthik Union in Bangalore League, was to play against Bangalore Occasionals.

“We discussed the team composition, match strategies, ground conditions and others. Later, he informed me that he would be leaving to his native to cast his vote and also assured he will return to play the match on Friday. Unfortunately, he is no more. We will definitely miss him in our Academy,” said Irfan Sait.

A book penned by Ashwath based on struggling cricketers was to be released today (Apr. 21) as per the initial plan. But, he was advised to release the book after May 10 because of the ongoing General Election and IPL. In fact, his book had impressed Rahul Dravid and Brijesh Patel. Rahul Dravid had also offered to write the Foreword for the book.

Irfan, who did not wish to name the book, said that he would be visiting Ashwath’s parents in Kodagu to offer his condolences and to discuss on the release of the book.

“Come what may, the book will be released,” said the coach.

Ashwath was so passionate that he used to coach the Under-10 cricketers at the Academy in Bangalore. “Ashwath identified talents at a very young age and groom them into good cricketers. Players like Yeshwanth, Chinmayi, Swaroop and others have been playing extremely well at the junior level,” added Irfan.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / April 21st, 2014