New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS): Dronacharya Awardee and renowned cricket coach Tarak Sinha died here on Saturday morning after a prolonged illness. He was 71.

Sinha, the soul of Sonnet Cricket Club which has given India and Delhi cricket so many gems, was battling lung cancer for a while, and recently, he had a multi-organ failure. He was a bachelor and is survived by his sister and hundreds of students.

"It is with heavy heart we have to share this tragic news of Shri Tarak Sinha, the founder of Sonnet Club, has left us for heavenly abode at 3 am on Saturday after a brave battle with lung cancer for two months," the Sonnet Club said in a statement.

"We want to thank each and everyone who has been by his side in these trying times and prayed for his recovery. We also want to appreciate the efforts put in by the doctors in Jaipur and Delhi who worked tirelessly to revive him.

"He was in good spirits till his last breath, believing he could still get up on his feet. It's a heavy day for all of us at Sonnet Club, the cricket fraternity and most importantly the students who have always seen him as a guardian," it added.

Affectionately known as 'Ustaad ji', Sinha trained cricketers across generations at The Sonnet Club which acted as Delhi's supply line. He identified talent and turned them into international cricketers.

The revered coach has produced cricketers like, Surender Khanna, Randhir Singh, Raman Lamba, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma, KP Bhaskar, Atul Wassan, Ashish Nehra, Sanjeev Sharma, Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Anjum Chopra and Rishabh Pant.

He was the fifth cricket coach, after Desh Prem Azad, Gurcharan Singh, Ramakant Achrekar and Sunita Sharma, to get the Dronacharya award.