Suryakumar Yadav’s childhood coach fired from job, earning around ₹10,000 per month by coaching at indoor turf: Reports
Team India's new T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav's childhood coach Ashok Aswalkar was removed from his curator and coach job at the Anushaktinagar Sports Management Committee ground in Chembur, Mumbai, in December last year. He now coaches at an indoor turf in Chembur and earns around ₹10,000 per month.
Aswalkar became famous during IPL 2024 after he featured in the Cadbury's special advertising campaign to salute the first coaches of some Indian cricketers. Apart from Suryakumar, KL Rahul's first coach also featured in the ad campaign that garnered quite a lot of attention.
According to a report in Mid-Day, though, Aswalkar was fired from his job at ASMC ground, where he served for 24 years. The report added that Suryakumar's childhood coach was earning ₹26,000 per month for his role as a curator and ₹15,000 for coaching duties. In his current job, he earns ₹10,000 per month (depending on attendees).
"I joined the BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) ground in 1989-90 and was assisting Jagannath Phanse as a groundsman and coach. I started at a monthly salary of ₹3,000 and when they (ASMC) discontinued my services in December 2023, I was getting ₹26,000 per month for the groundsman job and ₹15,000 for coaching from a coaching agency,” Aswalkar was quoted as telling mid-day.
Aswalkar added that he has spoken to Suryakumar about his job loss and claimed that the cricketer has stopped 'entertaining' the person responsible for the situation. He also saud that he has discussed plans of starting a cricket academy with India's new T20I captain and that he got a positive reply from the star batter.
Meanwhile, when mid-day contacted ASMC, the in-charge claimed that some confusion led to Aswalkar losing his job and that they even tried to contact the coach but got no positive response.
Suryakumar will be leading India's T20I team in Sri Lanka
Suryakumar was named the captain of the Indian team that will be playing three T20I matches in Sri Lanka during their white-ball tour. The Indian team is in the island nation for the series, which begins with the first T20I at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, July 27.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain of the Indian team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup last month.
However, chief selector Ajit Agarkar has made it clear that Pandya was not considered for captaincy due to his poor fitness record. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has been named vice-captain for both the T20Is and ODIs to be played in Sri Lanka.