Extra classes for colts on rest day

Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akhtar, Rahul Dravid, Younis Khan, Glenn McGrath 8212; all at the fingertips of the under-19 India team players. I...

Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akhtar, Rahul Dravid, Younis Khan, Glenn McGrath 8212; all at the fingertips of the under-19 India team players. In a novel and perhaps the most ideal set-up for the country8217;s junior cricketers in learning the ropes fast, U-19 Team India8217;s software front now boasts of a vast vault of visuals of international greats, past and present 8212; all at the budding stars8217; beck and call.

The unique library of video clippings, compiled by team analyst A Prasanna, fits perfectly with the energetic India coach Venkatesh Prasad, who is known for his penchant towards making the best of technological advancement in sports.

And while U-19 players spent the much-needed rest day today in the Afro-Asia Cup indoors with their coach and analyst, working on varied aspects of their game, The Indian Express got a lowdown on how the video analysis set-up helps the players improve their technique by watching videos of their cricketing idols.

8216;8216;For quite some time, we were wondering if we can have a simple system for the players to access visuals of their own idols, since that would be another great way of learning. This made us compile visuals of all famous international cricketers, apart from the standard analysis tools we have,8217;8217; explained Prasanna, the Bangalore-based programmer.

Interestingly, the set-up is not merely about the youngsters randomly picking out past performances of international players and watching them. The visuals are aimed at helping the boys correct flaws in their technique by comparing their own styles with those of the stars 8212; all that with a click of the button on the two laptops that are part of the team8217;s tools on tour.

For example, if a batsman in the team is having difficulty in getting his on-drive right, then all that he has to do is sit with the coach and the analyst. He would be made to watch videos of, say, Sachin Tendulkar batting, and study the correctness with which the senior star executes the on-drive. Similarly, for a pacer in the U-19 team who is struggling with the bouncer, there8217;s a whole lot of visuals of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee bowling bouncers, giving the youngster an idea of how to rectify his bowling. The Indian team, however, is not taking it easy at all on the rest day. Evidently, the focus is on tomorrow8217;s match against Sri Lanka, an encounter the hosts are looking forward to as their 8216;8216;first tough match8217;8217; of the event.