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An academy of hope

The National Cricket Academy (NCA) has progressed over the years with state-of-the-art facilities, a credible coaching line-up and alumni who have made it to the Indian team. Kapil Dev, NCA Chairman, praised the role the academy is playing to nurture young talent

PHOTO: PTI

STRAIGHT DRIVE Kapil Dev urged youngsters to make best use of the facilities at the NCA

"Sitting here, I am flooded with memories," said Kapil Dev. India's greatest all-rounder, pointed out to the Chinnaswamy Stadium's vast expanse through the large window at the National Cricket Academy's (NCA) lecture hall and said, "I have spent many days here."

Kapil was harking back to his days in the two-month long camp conducted by Col. Hemu Adhikari at the same venue in the late seventies. "And now sitting in front of you boys I feel happy about the facilities that the NCA has given you. These things were never there for my generation so make the most of it and go on to play for the country. I hope you youngsters will stay disciplined, dedicated and committed to hard work," he said.

The boys, Kapil referred to were the under-17 trainees who will be at the NCA for the next six weeks. His preamble was part of his address to the wards in his role as the NCA Chairman. Tuesday morning's induction program is a ritual that has played out ever since the NCA's inception in 2000. Seven years ago, the then Chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur delivered a speech rich with nostalgia and a welcome slant to the future. At that time, among the wide-eyed bunch of youngsters were Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif. The duo went onto become the eager beavers of Indian team in one-dayers, until recently.

Many in the current under-17 batch may have seen the group photographs of the preceding batches. Kapil added to their zest. "You boys are privileged to be here. You have the best of facilities, the best of coaching expertise and a good venue. The days you spend here will determine the kind of career you are going to have. You could call the NCA as the university of Indian cricket." The NCA, housed inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, has become a conveyor belt for promising players. "We have had 29 players from the NCA, representing India in the last seven years," said Shivlal Yadav, NCA Director. "But then you cannot expect all the eleven players in the Indian team to be from the NCA," he cautioned.

The academy, which often graduates from its two-column media space to a six-column one when the Indian team trains here, has made progress. The coaches constantly fine-tune the training schedules while Col. Nair, Administrative Manager, handles the logistics. It has graduated to a beehive that trains players, churns out coaches, serves as a talent-appraisal database and deals with the mental aspects related to cricket.

"We are happy with the way we have evolved. Initially we did follow the methods of the Australian Cricket Academy since that was our benchmark but slowly we are customising our methods to Indian conditions. We have almost finalised our own Level One coaching manual. We have trained nearly 600 players, have helped train about 800 coaches in Level One, Level Two and Level Three programs, we have our spin and wicket-keeping wings and we have Dr. Suratwala monitoring the mental aspects of our cricket coaching," said Lalchand Rajput, Director-Coaching.

Recently, there have been queries about the validity of the NCA in terms of strengthening Indian cricket. Sceptics have found a voice after India's World Cup debacle but it has to be understood that an academy does not create great cricketers overnight. "The NCA is a good concept and is doing well," said Pravin Amre, one of the coaches with Kapil adding: "You can only take the horse to the water."

K.C. VIJAYA KUMAR

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