Rajendra Badadare: Coach, Counselor and Cheerleader
August 16, 2009
2009 is coming up roses for California’s Rajendra Badadare, newly appointed coach of the USA U15 national team. Dr. Samaroo spoke with Mr. Badadare about his recent appointment and the upcoming ICC Americas U15 tournament in New York.
Last June, Rajendra Badadare coached the NWR to the national U15 title in San Francisco, defeating New York in the finals. “It was awesome” [winning the tournament], he tells me. “The way we started, I knew we would be in the finals because everyone was giving 100 percent effort”. For his efforts, Badadare was rewarded by being appointed coach of the national team for the upcoming ICC U15 Americas Cup. Asked about the appointment, the modest Badadare instead chooses to focus on the players: “I am most proud of the players; seven of them [from that winning team] made the national squad”, he boasts. 
A software engineer with Oracle Corporation, Badadare currently lives in Foster City, California and plays for San Mateo. In 2008, he won the MVP in the Bank of India Cup – an annual tournament involving some 18 teams. Like most immigrants, Badadare’s first reaction upon arriving in California in 2000 was: “Wow, they play cricket here?!” Originally from Pune, India, Badadare attended Maharastra Mandal Katariya high school, Chetan Chauhan’s alma mater. He captained the school in his 9th and 10th grade playing as a batting allrounder. “I used to open the batting”, he recalls. Badadare’s performances earned him a place on the Maharastra U15 select – the same age group he currently coaches. Does that experience help him any today? “Yes, it does”. Badadare still remembers, as a kid, just how special it felt to have been selected. Now as coach, he is able to put himself in the place of his young charges; to identify with their feelings; their doubts; their hopes; and their fears. And what was his first reaction when he got the news of his appointment as national coach? “Absolutely thrilled…I literally jumped out of my seat”. It also dawned on him that he was now entering the “international arena”, and the challenges that that brings. “But it’s a happy pressure”, he confidently assures me.
Badadare first began coaching in the 90s while playing club cricket for Maharastra. He volunteered at coaching clinics, passing on the same lessons he learnt from his coach – Nana Joshi. “From Nana [Joshi], I first learnt the importance of giving your full effort and to concentrate on your strength.” Every coach has his own recipe for success and Badadare tells me that his is very simple. He tries to instill in his players the belief that even in defeat, just knowing that “you gave your best effort is already a victory.” With such a mind set, “the youngsters are always happy even when things don’t go right”. Coach Badadare intuitively understands that at such a tender age, the players are very vulnerable and any minor setback, like an off day, can affect them mentally. “Making them feel good about themselves even when they lose is very important. As a coach at this level, you have to be both coach and counselor.”
Teaching and counseling to get the best out of others comes naturally to Badadare who was a lecturer for several years at Bharati Vidyapeeth Engineering College in Pune. Himself a graduate of the College, Badadare captained Bharati College for three years. His fondest memory was winning the season MVP in 1990, and scoring a match winning 83 in the finals against Government College of Engineering. Badadare later went on to complete his Masters in Software Systems at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS). Naturally, he represented Pune in Inter-zonal University ball playing alongside Salil Ankola who went on to play for India – making his debut in 1989, the same as Sachin Tendulkar.
An accomplished batsman, Badadare has scored 18 centuries to date. And which one was his most memorable? It was a 63 ball hundred (109 not out) to lead ICON Design to victory over DP XI in the Media Tournament in India in the late 90s. But what made this innings particularly memorable was the presence at the game of the legendary Indian coach Ramakant Achrekar, notable for coaching one Sachin Tendulkar. So who were his role models, I asked. Badadare idolizes Viv Richards – “who does not get out”, Wasim Akram and Michael Holding. “I emulated him [Holding]” – tossing the ball from left hand to right, reminisces Badadare who started as a gentle medium pacer before switching to off spin. At this point, Badadare confessed that the interview was very nostalgic - provoking wonderful memories of long ago. “It feels good” to journey back down memory lane. We also talked about the regrettable state of West Indies cricket, and the“remarkable strides” being made in USA cricket.
Badadare’s early experiences of cricket in America tell us much about the broadminded nature of the man. It was a pick up game between two teams each made up of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, he recalls. Knowing the rivalry that exists between these two cricketing giants, neither team wanted to lose. But out of that experience blossomed a cherished friendship with one of the Pakistani players, Nadeem Sheikh – that continues to this day. Also rising out of those early experiences, like the proverbial phoenix – was the Phoenix Cricket Club. In their first season, playing in the Bay Area Cricket Association (BACA), Nadeem Sheikh won the MVP, and the following year, 2002, Badadare took home the coveted prize. Today, Badadare plays for San Mateo in the Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA). His first stint coaching in America began a few years ago when the regional coach, Prem Suri, asked him “to help out”. In 2009, encouraged by Suri to make a full time commitment to coach, he accepted.
At this point, we had to continue the interview while Badadare drove to practice. The last few days he held coaching sessions with several members of the national team in preparation for the upcoming ICC tournament. On the way, he told me that Ajit Tendulkar had attended his coaching session the previous day. Are you kidding me, I wanted to know…you mean that Ajit Tendulkar? The interview is already an hour old and “now you tell me this”, I jokingly protested. So how did it go, I wanted to know. Ajit is such a simple person…”so modest – a lot like his brother”. He was “very impressed” with the promising talent on display. Tendulkar, who has been coaching with California Cricket Academy for the last five years already, knew a few of the players and “was delighted” with the progress they are making.
So what are the USA’s chances in the upcoming tournament? They are an extremely talented group of players, said Badadare, and he is confident that, “We can be number one”. And what’s the biggest challenge he sees? “I think that the players need some time to gel…to get to know each other”. The players come from all over the United States and some of them will be meeting each other for the first time. Coach Badadare himself is looking forward to meeting the team’s captain, Steven Taylor, who is from the South East. “I have never met Steven”, but like any dedicated coach, Badadare told me that “we talk often on the phone”. Badadare proudly boasts that young Steven also plays at the U19 level, and that just a few days ago he [Steven] spanked a match winning 98 not out to lead his team, International, to victory. Finally it was time for his practice. But before leaving, Badadare wanted to thank USACA, and the New York Region, for assembling the team for a few practice sessions this weekend in New York prior to the start of the tournament. “See you in New York”, he signs off.
Link to the practice session in California with the NWR kids.
http://picasaweb.google.com/skankanala/PracticeSession_081309?authkey=Gv1sRgCNHP9ueGwvepdg&feat=directlink