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CHANDIGARH, June 7: Former Indian fast bowler Yograj Singh's proposal to coach city cricketers at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium has been acc...

CHANDIGARH, June 7: Former Indian fast bowler Yograj Singh8217;s proposal to coach city cricketers at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium has been accepted by the UT Administration.

The UT Administration, while taking into account his concern at the falling standard of cricket in city, has permitted him to assist Harish Kumar, the coach already posted at the stadium. Not one to wait for the morrow, Yograj has already assumed his 8220;responsibility8221;. 8220;It is an honour for me and I will make sure that my dream does not end here. It has to go places,8221; said Yograj, who studied at the local DAV College, has been their team coach since 8217;82. Singh, a tearaway fast bowler in his hey days, played one Test match for the country against New Zealand during the 8217;80-81 twin tours to Australia and New Zealand, apart from seven one-day-internationals. It is a rare honour for the city that the new ball pair of Yograj and Kapil Dev were products of the cricket stadium here.

8220;There is a burning desire in me to see Test players from Chandigarh. We have the talent and I can assure you, once we streamline everything, this dream is not far off. I will be happy if four-five of my trainees play Ranji Trophy in the next three-four years,8221; Singh said.

This will be a challenge for him as he has a batch of 20-22 trainees in the age group of 12-17 most of whom he says, 8220;are physically not up to the mark.8221; In any case, he is already doing the groundwork for a set-up like the ELF-Lubricants Academy in Mumbai which Dilip Vengsarkar runs. 8220;In fact Vengsarkar will be here shortly and we will then chart out the details. The DAV College authorities are very keen but I don8217;t want to push things in a hurry,8221; Yograj said.

8220;Cricket has to be learnt the hard way. The boys should understand the game by playing it, talking about it and discussing it. They should be mentally focussed on the game,8221; he says. However, one thing Yograj will have to cut down on, is acting in Punjabi films.