NEW DELHI, April 26: The National Cricket Academy is organising a camp in Bengaluru to help players from the north eastern states and those in the plate group upgrade their skill-sets under the tutelage of renowned coaches including Ashes winning bowling coach Troy Cooley.
Close to 150 cricketers from the region are taking part in the camp and they will also get to interact with NCA head and India great VVS Laxman.
The BCCI wants to ensure that players from Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim get the best coaching and infrastructural facilities to be on par with the best domestic teams.
“This initiative by BCCI will give young and budding talents equal opportunity to hone their skills and represent India across formats. NE has enormous potential in sports and the board will keep no stone unturned to ensure that we are able to tap the best talent for the country,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.
The fast bowlers are being trained by one of the world’s acclaimed pace bowling coach Cooley while batters are working under the guidance of U-19 World Cup winning coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar.
The spinners are under former India leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule.
While BCCI hasn’t provided any details about the duration of the camp, it is understood that the NCA has lined up a number of coaching programmes including U-19 Zonal Cricket Academy camps which will be held across various cities including Surat, Vijaywada to name a few.
Based on performances till Cooch Behar Trophy (U-19) quarter-finals, 150 players (25 from each of the six zones including NE and new areas) have been selected for the camp.
It includes nine pacers from each of the six zones and there will be an aim to increase the pool of fast bowlers.
After the initial camp, it will be further pruned and those who will be the next batch of India U-19s will be selected. (PTI)
