2400 crowd Stadium nets

A month ago,the revered training centre that has honed skills of several Test players,including Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni besides hundreds of first-class players,was a dumping ground. It was only at the insistence of coaches and sports minister Ajay Maken’s intervention that the ground was worked on and cricket was restarted after a three-year break effected due to renovation for the Commonwealth Games. For starters,a layer of carpet grass and a few flagposts from the CWG medal ceremony was converted to poles to tie the nets.

The same venue is now making Sports Authority of India (SAI) proud with a unique record. A whopping 2400 students have enrolled for cricket under the Come and Play scheme,making it the biggest cricket coaching activity in the capital. Five experienced,NIS qualified coaches — Dronacharya awardee Sunita Sharma,MP Singh,Ramesh Chopra,Mohan Sharma and Raju Tandon have been joined by 10 fresh NIS diploma coaches to help kids spend the fag end of their summer vacation learning some cricket skills.

“I have been coaching at the stadium since 1989 and I have never seen such a crowd. The last time I remember we had such a turnout was when 800 boys reported for a one month-long camp but I think this was unimaginable for all of us. I don’t think even in the entire world,kabhi itne bachon ka ek ground mein cricket ka camp nahi laga hoga,” claims coach MP Singh.

“Despite the numbers,we have ensured that every boy who has come here knows how to grip the bat,play the front foot defence and the basics of bowling,we have taught them how to bowl single-wicket. In fact my own son goes to a private academy near our house and he still hasn’t been taught how to hold the bat properly.”

Singh is a known stickler for basics,and famously taught MS Dhoni the 1-2-3 of defence when the Indian skipper admitted during an interaction that he hasn’t ever learnt to play with the dead bat even though he had become a regular member of Team India.

Apart from an array of reputed coaches,the subsidised fee structure has helped attract kids from all sections and from remote areas as well. Even in Rs 167 for government school kids and Rs 500 for private school goers,quality is not being compromised but coaches are confident that a good number of students will filter down.

Alphabets from A to Z are already taken to name the batches and talent is carefully recorded in registers like S24 and B-13 to help their way through the crowd and put names to faces. The sheer numbers,of course,don’t come without a share of their problems. The batting time comes down to four minutes on an average and the total practice time,because of batches,also gets reduced.

“We have to keep in mind that most students will opt out due to academics after a while,but keeping in mind the present circumstances,it will be a huge challenge to keep managing the boys,” says coach Ramesh Chopra.

For now,space isn’t a constraint as the adjoining hockey turf is also taken up for a game and even the roads are converted into a mini ground with plastics stumps and a tennis ball keeping some kids busy while others take the privilege of practicing on cemented nets. Cricket though isn’t the only knowledge that is imparted. Every session is preceded by a rendition of national anthem as Mohan Sharma ensures that boys learn to take pride for their country before they dream of making their first step towards donning the Blue.