Virender Kumar Sharma, popularly known as Kumar, Dada or Dadu in city football fraternity, passed away on Friday. He was 81 and faced old age health issues with grit. A tireless midfielder before making a mark as a football coach ahead of his time, Kumar groomed champion squads at Mahindra & Mahindra, Mahindra Tractors. Mahindra & Mahindra won the Rovers Cup in 1993 under his guidance, beating Bank of India in penalties.
Kumar’s coaching revolved around moulding players given to him into a fighting fit bunch. He trained along with the lads, made them sweat and stretch alongside him and found ways to make the endurance exercises interesting. Hill climb was a favourite in off-season, alongside an incline close to the Mahindra Tractors ground in
Kandivali. Running with the medicine ball to build core strength was demonstrated by him then. Core exercises now is an integral part of workouts.
Mahindras achieved the Cooperage high of winning the Rovers Cup 1993, with Kumar as coach. The final went to penalty kicks, the champions beat Bank of India, a tribute to his method of team building, working on fitness individually, honing technique on the ground. Kumar worked on moulding football talent over generations, each one remembers the coach for care off the pitch, attention on it when they were put through the grind.
Mumbai, Maharashtra and India footballers who came under his tutelage at Tractors or Mahindras, remaining fit for life is a common thread running through Kumar’s boys. He started with Western Railways as a player, then moved to Mahindras and later the Tractors team earned fame in city football under his guidance after retirement. A taskmaster off and on the pitch, Kumar was a players’ coach. Virender Kumar Sharma kept in touch with football as a fan, after coaching days were over. Mumbai football’s Dadu is survived by wife Urmila Sharma, children Manish and Samiksha.
