10 Facts about Rajesh Sawant the former India U19 team trainer

Rajesh Sawant was a professional fitness trainer with a high repute in the Indian cricketing circuit. The man from Mumbai having acquired various qualifying certificates served at different levels in Indian cricket from age-group teams to the India U19 and India A team. Having trained some of the biggest names in Indian cricket he definitely had a bright future ahead of him but was shockingly found dead in his hotel room in Mumbai on January 29, 2017. Here we look at some facts about the man.

1. Base:

He was based in Mumbai and studied at the Modern English School in the city.

2. Specialization:

As a professional trainer, he specialized in Weight Management, Strength Endurance, Muscle Toning, Functional Training, Kettlebell Training, and TRX.

3. Qualification:

Sawant held various qualification certificates from national and international institutes which included- Certified fitness trainer by ACE, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Certified Fitness trainer by BCCI.

4. Association with cricket:

For over a decade he had been closely associated with cricket and held the position of the fitness trainer in BCCI, Mumbai Cricket Association and the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru.

5. Experience:

He was the strength and conditioning coach at the National & Zonal Cricket Academy from January 2006 to April 2010. Sawant was then appointed the strength and conditioning coach by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and served for almost 7 years having held the position since May 2010.

6. Trained the biggies:

He trained some of the biggest modern-day names in Indian cricket. Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel, Lokesh Rahul, Dhawal Kulkarni, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and other junior players benefitted from his knowledge.

7. Endorsed by Sachin Tendulkar:

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar endorsed Sawant as a trainer for a fitness coaching website. Sachin in a signed letter stated, “He (Rajesh Sawant) was appointed as the Chief trainer for the BCCI camps. India A team and other BCCI tournaments. He has dealt with the team very well and has been efficient, punctual and discipline oriented. He has also trained me and I thought his training was beneficial and enjoyable.”

8. Afghanistan:

After former Indian cricketer, Lalchand Rajput took over as the head coach of the Afghanistan national team Sawant served there as the trainer for a brief period before returning home.

9. Recent exploits:

Since Rahul Dravid’s appointment as the coach of the India A and Under-19 team, Rajesh has been the trainer of the teams. He was also with the India A team when they played the two warm-up matches against England XI in Mumbai ahead of the start of the ODI series. The likes of MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, and others were a part of the India A team for the two games.

10. Death:

He was with the India U19 team as they prepared for the ODI series against England U19 in Mumbai. But a day before the 1st ODI Sawant was found dead in his hotel room. Certain websites reported the reason to be cardiac arrest after a preliminary investigation.