Cricket mentor

Banerjee’s next big moment came in 1996 when he,as a national selector,brought Sourav Ganguly back to the Indian cricket’s mainstream. He fought huge odds in the selection meeting but managed to have Ganguly on board the flight to England. The rest is history…

Banerjee became a coach in 1998 and came up with his academy at Kalighat Park. Thus a new journey began that became better with every passing year and Banerjee has impressed in his new role producing quality talents over the years.

But why is his cricket academy different from the others? “My academy is the best in the business because I take special care of the trainees and develop them into quality players. We have specialist coaches in all departments and the academy has a complete set-up with physios and other support staff,” Banerjee said.

Going by track record,his claims don’t sound hollow. The academy has made a name in the junior and sub-junior cricket. It won the all India U-16 academy championship in Mumbai in 2002,it became the CAB sub-junior champions in 2004. But more to the point,it has already produced youngsters like Subhojit Banerjee,Krishnayan Chatterjee,Arpan Sengupta who have proved their worth at the U-19 level. At the U-22 level also Bazrul Islam,an academy graduate,is making waves as a batter.

What is the secret of his success? “I insist on playing as many matches as possible from a very tender age. It is more important than having traditional net sessions. The bottom line is to develop match temperament,” Banerjee explains.

Indeed,the trainees at the Sambaran Cricket Academy can call themselves lucky. It is not very often that you see cricket academies in Kolkata sending their players to overseas for exposure. Banerjee’s academy has already embarked on the tours of Australia,South Africa and Bangladesh.

Harking back,it was not always a very smooth ride for the former Bengal stumper-batsman who came very close to making it to the top. He was almost a certainty to replace Syed Kirmani when the latter was dropped for the series against England due to his suspected Packer-link. Raj Singh Dungarpur had proposed Banerjee’s name during the meeting only to see the selector from East Zone not very interested. Bharat Reddy took the flight to Heathrow.

Maybe this is the reason why Banerjee is hell-bent on supporting Bengal boys and doesn’t care if he is called biased.

After two years at Kalighat Park,Banerjee had to vacate the ground as a water-tank was to be installed there. He moved to Vivekananda Park near Dhakuria Lake. But he didn’t let the momentum slip. His association with Mainland China came as a real shot in the arm and the success story continued.

“Our academy is open to the boys from six to 19 years. A monthly fee of Rs 300 is perhaps not very tough on the pocket. But make no mistake,poor but talented cricketers are trained free here. Those who don’t have the means,we provide them with accommodation and kits. We want flowers bloom,” Banerjee says.

As Bengal ‘s chief selector he has his plates full. But Banerjee loves to work at the grassroots. “This is the reason why he has taken over the Victoria Sporting Club. Cricket is my life and I want to stay close to the Maidan,” he said.

Banerjee hopes someday some of his academy boys will be in the big league. “The goal should be to play for India and if at least two to three players from my academy can go to the top,I will feel I have done something for cricket,” Banerjee says.

With Sachin Tendulkar taking note of his efforts and giving his gloves to give a morale boost to the academy youngsters,Banerjee,perhaps,is not talking big.