The Association of Basketball players appealed to the Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to honour the basketball coach Rajesh Patel with Dronacharya award.

The Integrated Basketball Player Association said in the letter - "We appeal to you to give Dronacharya Award to Rajesh Patel, one of the best coaches of basketball, who died during his work when he was on the train for the national junior basketball championship and heading towards Ludhiana."

It is worth mentioning here is that the International Basketball coach Rajesh Patel died in Panipat, Haryana. When Rajesh Patel was going to Ludhiana with the team, his health deteriorated on the way and he suddenly passed away. Rajesh Patel, the coach of the women's basketball team Chhattisgarh, was called Dronacharya of basketball. In Rajesh Patel's coaching team, the team has won 103 medals so far in national championships.

Under the guidance of Coach Rajesh Patel, the girl basketball team of Chhattisgarh had bagged success in almost every category. The result is that the team is in the account of 69 Gold, 12 Silver and 22 Bronze Medal Team from 103.