The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Lift performance level consistently: Laxman to trainees

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 13, 2007
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Sport - Cricket

Lift performance level consistently: Laxman to trainees

Principal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: V.V.S. Laxman appealed to the trainees who attended the Hyderabad Cricket Association's (HCA) annual summer coaching camp which concluded at Gymkhana Grounds on Saturday, to lift their performance level consistently in order to be in the reckoning for selection into the State and the National teams.

Speaking at the valedictory function, Laxman, who said that he would be leaving for Bangladesh on May 14, remarked that of late even centuries were not considered good enough scores because of the intensity of the competitions in various age groups.

"Gone are the days when a couple of centuries would have given one a good chance to make it to the next grade. You need to score big hundreds and that too consistently," he told the trainees who underwent the month-long coaching camp under different coaches.

Amongst the coaches were former India captain Purnima Rau who was in charge of the women's cricket team, former Ranji left-arm spinner R. Sridhar and medium-pacer Narinderpal Singh, who is making his debut as a coach initially with the under-19 team, Girish, Youraj Singh and veteran Mahendra Kumar.

"You are lucky in a way that the HCA is making its best efforts to provide all the infrastructural support and also one of the best play facilities. Try to make optimum use of them and be better cricketers and bring in laurels," Laxman said.

"I know you have abundance of talent and it is only a question of translating that into performances," he remarked amidst applause from the gathering.

The HCA also presented a memento to Laxman on the eve of his departure to Bangladesh wishing him a great series.

N. Shivlal Yadav, Secretary, HCA, reminded the cricketers of his commitment to provide them everything they needed to bring name and fame to the State and to the country.

"We will not let any cricketer suffer for want of support on any front," he asserted.

In a welcome gesture, all the coaches were given an honorarium of Rs.10,000 each for their dedication and commitment.

Praveen downs Srikanth

HYDERABAD : P. Praveen Prasad outwitted P. Srikanth in the third round of open category to share the lead with three other players with three points each in the 13th Brilliant Trophy State open chess tournament at Dilsukhnagar here on Saturday.

The results: 3rd round: Open category: P. Srikanth (2) lost to P. Praveen Prasad (3); M.Y. Raju (3) bt K.S.R.M. Raju (2); D.V. Ganesh (2) lost to G.V. Srinivas (3); V. Jagadish (2.5) drew with Deepthamsh Reddy (2.5); N. Koundinya (2.5) drew with N. Dheeraj (2.5); G. Srinivas (2) lost to S. Khan (3).

Juniors category: A. Harihara Sravan (3) bt N. Tejaswi Reddy (2); Bharadwaj (3) bt P. Ajay (2): Venkatram (3) bt Gowtham Reddy (2); J. Saiagni (2.5) drew with Prarush Srivastava (2.5); K. Anoop (2) lost to G. Vyas (3); K. Praneeth Surya (2) lost to Yashwant (3); M. Siva Reddy (3) bt V.S.R. Akshay (2).

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