'The Pakistani team visited India in 2005-2006, and there was a grand dinner. He urged me to get on stage and speak on behalf of the Punjab Cricket Association!'
'Imagine, a coach from Pakistan speaking on behalf of the PCA!'
Former Pakistan captain and coach Intikhab Alam paid glowing tributes to his old friend, former BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra, who passed away on January 25, 2026.
'Inti', who played 47 Tests and four ODIs for Pakistan between 1959 and 1973, had famously coached the Punjab cricket team in a two-year stint in the 2000s.
While he enjoyed his stint as coach, it was Bindra's generosity and friendship that left him with memories for a lifetime.
"Working with the Punjab team, I saw Bindra from close quarters. He looked after the cricketers very well, providing them all possible facilities," 'Inti', 84, tells Rohit Mahajan in an exclusive chat.
"He is one of the best cricket administrators I've come across in my long career as a cricketer and coach."
"When Inderjit Singh Bindra urged me to join the Punjab team as coach, I had no second thoughts and immediately made the decision to give my assent. It was a great opportunity to coach a top Indian team in the top tier of domestic cricket.
"I had already coached the Pakistan team to the World Cup title in 1992, and had taken up the job again in 2000. Working with the Punjab team in Indian domestic cricket was a different kind of a challenge, which I was able to take head-on due to the support of Bindra and his team."
"With Punjab, based in Mohali, I had a great time, for a couple of years. Punjab reached the final of the Ranji Trophy during my first year, in the 2004-2005 season. We lost only one match the next season, but won only two out of six, and thus failed to reach the knockout stage.
"I have fond memories of working with the players, many of whom -- Dinesh Mongia, Pankaj Dharmani, V R V Singh, Reetinder Sodhi are the names I remember -- played for India.
"But my most cherished memories are of my friend Inderjit Singh Bindra, who was the president of the Punjab Cricket Association at the time. He was a very fine administrator and had the best interest of the sport -- and Punjab and Indian cricket -- in his heart.
"He's one of the best cricket administrators I've come across in my long career as a cricketer and coach.
"I first met him in 1983, when I was manager of the Pakistan team that visited India under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. We played a Test match in Jalandhar on that tour, and it was then that I had my first meeting with him.
"He was a very helpful, kind man and we became good friends -- family friends. My wife and his wife Kamal also got to know each other very well.
"I was approached by the PCA for the Punjab team coaching job when India toured Pakistan in 2005-2006. I was doing the commentary during the series, and PCA's M P Pandove approached me with the offer.
"Then Bindra also spoke to me, and I decided to take up the role and go to India.
"I had two wonderful years in Punjab, and I made great friends there, the closest of whom was Bindra. I can't forget the time I spent in his company during those two years.
"I was put up in a suite at the PCA clubhouse. Bindra was so concerned about my well-being that he himself stayed at the clubhouse for a week -- he wanted to ensure that I was comfortable, that the quality of food was excellent, and that I had all possible support in my job as coach.
"I was born in India, of course, in Hoshiarpur in 1941, and thus there was no language problem in Mohali and it was easy to work with the players, in that completely Punjabi environment.
"I also visited Hoshiarpur during that time, and also Shimla, where my father, who was an electrical engineer, was posted with the electricity department in 1947.
"Working with the Punjab team, I saw Bindra from close quarters. He looked after the cricketers very well, providing them all possible facilities. He took personal interest in the management of cricket in Punjab, and in the facilities and logistics at the PCA stadium, which was named after him in 2015.
"The I S Bindra stadium in Mohali was India's first modern, world-class cricket stadium, and the credit for that goes mainly to him.
"During my time in India, I was quite busy with the Punjab team, but I did visit him at his houses in Chandigarh and in Delhi. When he visited Pakistan, I was happy to host him at my house.
"Bindra was a man of action who did his utmost to create facilities for the players. I remember that at the PCA stadium in Mohali, they had a lot of space available, and I advised Bindra that it would be great to have an indoor coaching school on the premises.
"He liked the idea and within no time, he had created such a facility! I was amazed, as I had seen few administrators with such commitment and vision."
"I remember an incident that touched me. The Pakistani team visited India in 2005-2006, and there was a grand dinner. He urged me to get on the stage and speak on behalf of the Punjab Cricket Association! Imagine, a coach from Pakistan speaking on behalf of the PCA! I was really touched by this gesture.
"Bindra was a graceful, cultured man. His death has left me deeply saddened, as I have lost a great friend. I hope time would heal the wounds of the Bindra family."