Former Ranji player and cricket coach, Amrik Singh Nagra, 49, died of cardiac arrest while he was training students at the Baba Ishar Singh School ground here on Friday. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Former India Captain Bishan Singh Bedi who was a mentor to Nagra, in his condolence message to Nagra’s wife Inderjit Kaur said, “I am at loss of words… This is how Gurbani tells us as how to accept Guru da Bhana. My heart reaches out to you right now and feel hopelessly helpless…” Bedi who was a mentor to Nagra will attend his antim ardas on January 31 at Sukhmani Sahib Gurdwara, Dugri phase -1.
Vinod Chitkara, president of the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA), said, “He was a fitness freak since his early days and was very regular on diet and fitness schedule. Our Ludhiana team won Punjab championship in 1987 and Nagra was part of that team when I was its manager. Six players got selected for U-19 state from Ludhiana and he was one among them. That was a record selection of players from Ludhiana for the state.”
“He was a dedicated coach and it is a great loss. I am surprised as how such a fit player and a coach had cardiac arrest. It was totally untimely,” Chitkara added.
Nagra was the director of physical education at Baba Ishar Singh Public School and was also training students in cricket. He joined the school in 2002 and produced many state level and national level players. Sarabjot Singh, an alumni of the school is playing for the national cricket team of Thailand. Parampreet Singh, another student of the academy, is playing for an Australian club. Devinder Pal Singh is an inter-varsity cricket player and an old student of Nagra.
Avtar Singh, hockey coach of the school, said, “He changed my life. Not only cricket, he used to train us in life skills also.”
Harjeet Singh, an international level basketball player and an alumni of Baba Ishar Singh School, said, “He trained me to be fit and fight psychological pressures. Cricket was his game but in school he made me believe that I can play basketball.”
Nagra’s fellow Ranji players, including Ankur Kakkar and Gaurav Marwaha, also expressed condolences. Nagra is survived by his mother, wife Inderjit Kaur and daughter Bhavdeep Kaur. Gagandeep Singh Cheema, an NRI playing for South California’s cricket team, also underwent three months, training at Nagra’s academy in 2018.
