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Journalism of Courage
For the 42 aspiring cricketers assembled at the National Cricket Academy, this month will be crucial in the journey to realise their dreams. During the next 30 days they will take a collective step towards shaping the destiny of Indian cricket.
The inaugural day itself was memorable for these budding talents. The presence of legendary Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid was enough to make these youngsters aware of the bright future cricket holds for them.
The words of Sunny, the greatest and most successful opening batsmen in the history of cricket, reminded them of the effort they have to make to attain their goals.
‘‘This is a fantastic opportunity. The training is aimed at making each participant not only a better cricketer but a better human being. These juniors are the future of Indian cricket and their challenge starts from here,’’ Gavaskar, who is also the chairman of the NCA said here on Sunday.
He reminded the pool of youngsters of the gravity of this chance. ‘‘This academy was inaugurated by the best batsman of my generation, Gundappa Viswanath. These youngsters are fortunate that this batch is being started by the best batsman of this generation, Rahul Dravid and for these kids this is great opportunity to learn and improve.’’
Rahul Dravid’s ability to build an innings and lift his game when the team needed him most has already achieved legendary status. And the trainees were apparently awe-struck and in all attention when Dravid began to speak.
‘‘Playing for India is hard. When I was a kid I had a dream of playing for India. If you have a vision and drive, you can materialise your dreams. Not everyone get such an opportunity and it is important to make the best use of this chance,’’ he said.
From the very beginning of his career, Dravid was known as a complete teamman and he reminded the beginners the significance of camaraderie in cricket.
Indian cricket board secretary S Karunakaran Nair rated the growth of NCA as a dream come true. ‘‘This academy has contributed immensely to widen the pool of talent in Indian cricket. It can achieve greater goals in the future and we are confident that this academy can be compared to any other in the world in the coming years.’’
The moment was yet to sink in for some of the participants. ‘‘To interact with such great players like Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid is a very rare chance. I will be looking forward to meet them during the camp and learn the nuances of cricket from them,’’ Aditya Sagar, a promising all-rounder from Karnataka said.
