The Raina Effect

This may be where weightlifter Renu Bala Chanu trained all her life, and to which she recently returned with a gold from Melbourne, but it is unmistakably Cricket Country. And the 60-odd boys, all between 14-19 years old, in whites, are the local heroes. They are the potential successors to Suresh Raina and RP Singh, two alumni who have done this academy proud.

But the prestige the boys enjoy and the college8217;s stature, on par with the city8217;s IIM, haven8217;t come up overnight. It8217;s taken 31 years of hard work, vision and a policy of starting at the grassroots and focusing on all round development.

Above all, the efforts of Deepak Sharma and SP Krishnan, the two coaches.

8216;8216;We have till now produced 16 cricketers who played at the international level. But it gives me greater delight to see two of my boys walk in to the senior team simultaneously,8221; says Sharma.

SO WHAT makes this centre stand out? The reasons are manifold, from inculcating cricket culture, financial support and a result-oriented approach to support the facilities.

For one, the boys have only cricket on their mind. The college is 15 km from the nearest cinema, and mobile phones are not allowed, either. 8220;We want our boys to think only cricket, keep discussing about the game, the strokes, everything8217;8217;, says Sharma. 8216;8216;It helps you take the game seriously and when you take something seriously, it gives results. I call it the effective way of coaching. It8217;s long hours of practice, pursuing basics and working on physical fitness programmes, because international cricket is tough to survive.8217;8217;

To keep the monotony away, the boys indulge in various formats of the game 8212; single wicket, tip and run, leg-side run 8212; and sometimes switch to volleyball, swimming and even football. There8217;s a training schedule that involves all motor qualities of the body 8212; strength, speed and stamina. Six days in a week, they alternate between cross-country, shuttle running, sprints, hill running and systematized weight-training programme.

Their schedule is tight: the day begins at 5.30 a.m. and, with one-hour breaks, goes on till 10-30 p.m. In between, it8217;s a mix of cricket and academics.

8216;8216;It8217;s been the work of more than two decades, we look at people with short-term projects, smile at them and tell them at our time will come. It8217;s slightly late but it has come8217;8217;, Sharma adds. To add to their advantage, the average age of the national side has come down drastically in the last one year from 27 years to 23 years and that has given a lot of prominence to the youngsters.

LIVING in the hostel is mandatory for the boys, chiefly from lower middle economic strata; all their expenses are borne by the state government, a total of Rs 8 lakh Rs 30,000 each on 240 boys. It includes their clothing, equipment, food, scholarship, academics and exposure trips.

8216;8216;We have a very strict result-oriented approach here8217;8217;, says Krishnan, the second coach and also administrator of the SAI complex housed within the area. 8216;8216;We give every boy two years time, within which he has to play for the state in any age-group. Otherwise, he will be thrown out. The same is with academics also.8221;

However, one thing that stands out is the relation between the coach and the students. 8220;We live and breathe with them. We know exactly what each one is doing every second; we are not just their coach but also their friends. We enjoy each other8217;s company. So many times, Deepak or I have written to the principal requesting them to excuse them from academics because they want to watch the match.8217;8217;

Indeed, they all 8216;bunked8217; classes and watched the ODI at Faridabad, with the added bonus of watching Raina win the match.

Raina and RP loom large in the college legend. The current batch has seen how two boys who went down the same road 8212; sleeping on the same thin bed over the wooden plank, washing their own clothes and spending endless hours at the nets 8212; have made it to the top. 8216;8216;It helps a lot8217;8217;, says Sharma. 8216;8216;We give a lot of motivational talks to help the boys mature and take on big matches, Raina and RP have made our job a lot simpler.8217;8217;

Who8217;s next in line? Ankit is referred to as a promising talent, with an elegant cover drive 8212; 8216;8216;bilkul Raina jaise tha8217;8217;. The shot will fetch just four but the spring in his step was clearly evident. 8220;See that,8221; says the coach. 8220;That is the Raina effect I was talking about.8221;

8216;We were taught to be responsible8217;
Suresh Raina pays tribute to his alma mater

Suresh Raina began his cricketing days at the Lucknow hostel in 1999 and trained under Deepak Sharma, his coach from NIS Patiala. 8216;8216;He was a great support and was the first person to teach me the importance of fitness. I also took my initial batting lessons from him,8217;8217; says Raina.

In hostels, says the left-hander, 8216;8216;there8217;s no particular thought given to fitness. The rules or rather the lack of it, the infrastructure and interest isn8217;t very motivating. That8217;s why I was lucky to have him Sharma around.8217;8217;.

His hostel days was not merely about cricket. 8216;8216;We were taught to be responsible. That is what students like me got to learn. We had to wash our own clothes and take care of ourselves.8217;8217;

Raina recalls spending time in the hostel listening to songs on the radio. 8216;8216;It used to help pass the time.8217;8217; Today, he owns an iPod. 8216;8216;Times have surely changed,8217;8217; he smiles.

K Shriniwas Rao