The Hindu : Sport : Kapil wants Tendulkar, Ganguly to interact with NCA trainees

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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Kapil wants Tendulkar, Ganguly to interact with NCA trainees

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

... THE TOUGH GETS GOING: The National Cricket Academy Chairman Kapil Dev exhorted the under-17 players to train hard and play tough cricket.

Bangalore : The National Cricket Academy (NCA) Chairman Kapil Dev said he would request the BCCI to allow Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Irfan Pathan to train and interact with the under-17 players at the academy.

"These cricketers — some of them are going later to Bangladesh and some of them are not going at all — I am sure they have some time to spare for these youngsters at the NCA," Kapil Dev said during the induction programme of a fresh batch of under-17 trainees at the academy here on Tuesday.

"When we were growing up, the then Indian players were our heroes and the same is the case with these youngsters here who are the future of Indian cricket. We will ask the Board, it is just a request and hopefully there will be a positive response. I am sure with cricketers like Sachin, Sourav, Harbhajan, Pathan and Kaif around, these boys will be charged up to train and perform better," Kapil Dev added.

`Train hard'

The former India captain exhorted the under-17 lads to train hard and play tough cricket.

"We are all disappointed with our World Cup performance. Maybe our best wasn't enough and we look at you youngsters here as future players who one day might win the cup for us. I want you to make full use of the facilities here, which weren't there when we were playing.

"Have fun but while training be focussed and enjoy it. Training is not punishment and if you look at it that way, you might as well be at home. If you train well now, you can enjoy the later part of your life," Kapil Dev said. He added that he would come to the NCA as and when required.

"Never hesitate to ask me questions. You also have a wonderful panel of coaches here, respect them and make full use of their expertise," Kapil Dev said.

Earlier, the NCA Director Shivlal Yadav said that since its inception in 2000, the NCA has striven to train young cricketers on the threshold of first class and international cricket. "We wanted the youngsters to be prepared mentally, physically and technique-wise for the rigours of higher levels of cricket. Nearly 29 players who passed through the NCA have played for the country either in Tests or one-dayers," Yadav said.

Best facilities

Meanwhile Lalchand Rajput, Director-Coaching, said: "We have provided the best of facilities to the players and nearly 600 players in various age-groups ranging from under-15 to the National team have trained here.

"We have conducted many Level I, Level II and Level III coaching courses and are also in the process of finalising our own Level I course manual customised to Indian needs as the previous one we used were from the ECB or from the MCC or from the Australian Cricket Academy. We have created a pool of our own qualified coaches and even in the mental aspect, Dr. Suratwala has stepped in after Sandy Gordon was unavailable due to his prior commitments."

Among the selected 25 under-17 trainees, 20 were present while five players, busy with their school exams, will arrive in the city later this week. The selected trainees will be at the NCA for six weeks.

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