Suryakumar Yadav is at the highest point of his cricketing career. Already the world's top T20I batter, Surya was rewarded for his tireless efforts when he was named India's T20I captain, ahead of Hardik Pandya. Surya, 33, is likely to hold on to this post until the 2026 T20 World Cup where India would want to defend the title on their home soil. Between now and then, SKY is the limit for Surya, who embarks on this new chapter of his career with much aplomb and hopefully, a lot of success.

But while Suryakumar is enjoying the highest of highs, his childhood coach Ashok Aswalkar is going through a bit of a personal turmoil. Aswalkar, SKY's first coach, recently got fired from his job after 24 years and is down to earning ₹10,000 per month. The 61-year-old, who gave his blood, sweat and tears to Chembur's Anushakti Nagar for over two decades, working as a curator and coach and earning ₹41,000 for his dual role, was 'humiliated'.

"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 R3,000 and when they [ASMC] discontinued my services in December 2023, I was getting R26,000 per month for the groundsman job and R15,000 for coaching from a coaching agency," Aswalkar told Mid-day.

Aswalkar's plight can be gauged by the fact that he had to hide this very important piece of information from his family, worrying it may cause chaos and panic among his kin. Having lost his previous gig, Aswalkar switched to coaching at an indoor turn in Chembur, a job which pays him a meagre ₹10K a month, way lower that his previous monthly earning. To voice his concern, Aswalkar reached out to his disciple.

"I didn't even tell my family members that I had lost my job. I just messaged Surya to say that I lost my job and told him who was responsible for this damage. Surya in response stopped entertaining that particular person," Aswalkar said.

What led to Aswalkar's sacking

Explaining the series of events, Aswalkar revealed that it all began to go downhill once he rejoined office after attending a family function. Immediately upon joining back, Aswalkar noticed off behaviour from his colleagues and people around him at work. And after a couple of back-and-forth conversations, the 61-year-old was shown the door.

"I went to attend my nephew’s wedding in Malvan with prior intimation. They [ASMC] asked me to meet them on my return on December 31. I did so, but no one spoke to me during my three-hour visit. I was then told via a message to return home and I would be called again. This was humiliating. When I was told to visit the place a week later, no one met me again," said Aswalkar.

"After one month I got a message at my home that few [ASMC] members wanted to meet me at the ground. I met and spoke with Mr [Ramakant] Sahu and two other committee members there. They asked me questions and listened carefully to what I said. The committee members said they will get in touch with me soon, but till date, no one has communicated with me. The last salary I drew was ₹26,911 in December 2023."

Ramakant Sahu, the head of ASMC, mentioned that what happened with Aswalkar was due to poor communication. Sahu added that Aswalkar was unhappy for some reasons and that if he can get past it, ASMC are willing to give the veteran coach his old job back.

"Ashok was working with us till last season. But something happened – some confusion on his part and some other part. We tried to continue with him but then he was unhappy for some reason and suddenly disappeared in the middle of a cricket tournament. Ashok said he is going to his hometown for some work, but for three to four weeks he was not responding to phone calls," he said.

"In fact, we will be honoured to hire him as a coach. He was here for years, decades. We are trying to convince him to just be with us and next season – from October – he will get a full-time curator-cum-coaching job."

Then again, Aswalkar may not be ready to reopen a closed chapter. With assistance from Surya, Aswalkar plans on embarking on a new chapter, and a pretty noble one too.

"I am coaching youngsters in an indoor turf facility at Chembur now. I spoke with Surya about starting a cricket academy and he gave me a positive reply. We both want to provide coaching to needy youngsters. Money was never a priority for us, and it will not be in the future," he said.

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