POTW : Surya Kiran

[MenInG]

Lot of debate over how India have improved their cricket over time but I am yet to come across a more succinct explanation than the one by the following post.

Congratulations to our POTW winner, [MENTION=150477]Surya Kiran[/MENTION] for this excellent post.



http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...list-quot-Wasim-Akram&p=10363339#post10363339

Evolution of Indian Cricket didn't happen overnight. The policies and the visions shared by seniors and administrators have taken time to trickle down the lower levels of cricket within the cricket.

Hits

- Decent salary to domestic cricketers
- More stadiums with good facilities
- Good pathway programs such as India U19 and India A teams
- International flavour and exposure through IPL
- Succesfully clamping down on bowlers who chuck(ex - Pragyan) and over age cricketers without any directions from ICC

Misses

- Not able to get new NCA running with modern facilities and emphasis on scientific research. It will take a very long time to build it
- Contracts according to pay grades for domestic cricketers
- Not able to integrate ground staff into so called "cricket community" yet. They need to have better wages with a professional look about them in the ground
- Umpiring standard has been abysmal in the domestic cricket. This after spending so much of money on Simon Taufel for creating a program for umpires and monitoring them

Jigsaw Puzzles

- How to get more utility cricketers from domestic set up, since there are so many teams, few cricketers don't have to concentrate on all 3 facets of the game
- How to get the players to play in day night long duration games with orange ball as due is an hindrance
- How to give break to second string players like Shreyas Iyer a break from non stop cricket through out the year

Vision

- By 2023, India develops a solid bench strength in such a way that even "A" team can give international teams a run for their money
- Produce more all round cricketers
- Take cricket deep into rural areas
- Have more Indian coaches plying their trade in International cricket (Currently Sunil Joshi - Bangladesh, Sriram - Australia)
- State associations become independent through innovative marketing strategies

 

[rhony]

Informative. Good job

 

[big_gamer007]

He didn't even mention the most important point. His post is right and I agree with all points but he missed crucial information.

The most important reason for cricket growth in India is economic development and globalisation.

 

[MenInG]

He didn't even mention the most important point. His post is right and I agree with all points but he missed crucial information.

The most important reason for cricket growth in India is economic development and globalisation.

What's that got to do with cricket? You can have all the money in the world but you need to know how to utilize it

 

[big_gamer007]

What's that got to do with cricket? You can have all the money in the world but you need to know how to utilize it

Everything is related, with economic growth kids are getting proper food, computers and science is available via internet they are eating healthy food and developing their bodies.

Cricket equipment and academies are easily available for more kids to play. In schools there are coaches and nets. Leather ball matches are much common. Parents mindset of this generation parents has changed slightly now they don't force their kids to be engineer/doctor if ther kid is good in cricket they help him.

Better economy brings TV to everyone's home more kids watch match and get inspired by players. The number of poor has declined compared to 80s,90s so even lower middle class kids which form sizeable number can now afford to play game and if they talented can come up the ranks.

Why do you think bcci is richest board now? It's because of Indian economies growth and cricket crazy population that sponsors invest in cricket in India..

80s and early 90s also our population was huge but we weren't richest board why? Because our economy wasn't tempting enough for foreign giants to invest. Now with such a huge economy everyone wants to have a piece of the pie.

No doubt bcci did a good job exploiting this and taking advantage unlike PCB. If Pakistan economy becomes huge like India's with the population of Pakistan you guys will easily become second richest board.

So in short everything is inter related, and booming economy is the biggest reason. BCCI are competent to have taken advantage of it so credit to them and rest of the points the OP mentioned also.

 

[Captain caveman]

Everything is related, with economic growth kids are getting proper food, computers and science is available via internet they are eating healthy food and developing their bodies.

Cricket equipment and academies are easily available for more kids to play. In schools there are coaches and nets. Leather ball matches are much common. Parents mindset of this generation parents has changed slightly now they don't force their kids to be engineer/doctor if ther kid is good in cricket they help him.

Better economy brings TV to everyone's home more kids watch match and get inspired by players. The number of poor has declined compared to 80s,90s so even lower middle class kids which form sizeable number can now afford to play game and if they talented can come up the ranks.

Why do you think bcci is richest board now? It's because of Indian economies growth and cricket crazy population that sponsors invest in cricket in India..

80s and early 90s also our population was huge but we weren't richest board why? Because our economy wasn't tempting enough for foreign giants to invest. Now with such a huge economy everyone wants to have a piece of the pie.

No doubt bcci did a good job exploiting this and taking advantage unlike PCB. If Pakistan economy becomes huge like India's with the population of Pakistan you guys will easily become second richest board.

So in short everything is inter related, and booming economy is the biggest reason. BCCI are competent to have taken advantage of it so credit to them and rest of the points the OP mentioned also.

Spot on brother!

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!

I don't say this much but you have to give alot of credit to bcci for tapping into this new wealth and marketing cricket(of course with the HUGE aid of the IPL)!

 

[BaankeJi]

I will be interested in knowing how Surya Kiran got to know about "vision".
How do you find that out unless it is documented?

Very informative post.

 

[Surya Kiran]

I will be interested in knowing how Surya Kiran got to know about "vision".
How do you find that out unless it is documented?

Very informative post.

I played age group cricket in Hyderabad many years ago and at that time R.Sridhar was Hyderabad's U14 & U16 coach and MSK was playing league cricket for BDL(Bharat Dynamics Limited) and was gracious enough to gift me his gloves. Incidentally, Sridhar is fielding coach and MSK is the chief selector currently. Bharat Arun also served as Hyderabad's coach when Anil Kumble was the coach for that one year for Team India. Now Bharat is India's bowling coach as well and on his input, Siraj was fast tracked into the Indian team.

It also helps that I played with Pragyan and Rayudu as we are from the same college. Rayudu and few other players live few blocks away from my place in Hyderabad, so all this cricket talk is very common in the neighbourhood. Although, no selection details get discussed we generally like to have discussions on various domestic structures and pathways around the world.

I have also done a course on Sports Management where I was privileged to interact with Monty Desai(Rajasthan Royals) and other coaches.

In Indian cricket, we do not have the culture of documentation although some reports get submitted from time to time. BCCI does a lot of good work which does not get published in the media and they are not aggresively looking to better their image in public either so lots of good work that is done or what they intend to do never comes out in open.

There are many other interesting insights i can throw light on as well

 

[Surya Kiran]

Informative. Good job

Thanks rhony

 

[rhony]

I played age group cricket in Hyderabad many years ago and at that time R.Sridhar was Hyderabad's U14 & U16 coach and MSK was playing league cricket for BDL(Bharat Dynamics Limited) and was gracious enough to gift me his gloves. Incidentally, Sridhar is fielding coach and MSK is the chief selector currently. Bharat Arun also served as Hyderabad's coach when Anil Kumble was the coach for that one year for Team India. Now Bharat is India's bowling coach as well and on his input, Siraj was fast tracked into the Indian team.

It also helps that I played with Pragyan and Rayudu as we are from the same college. Rayudu and few other players live few blocks away from my place in Hyderabad, so all this cricket talk is very common in the neighbourhood. Although, no selection details get discussed we generally like to have discussions on various domestic structures and pathways around the world.

I have also done a course on Sports Management where I was privileged to interact with Monty Desai(Rajasthan Royals) and other coaches.

In Indian cricket, we do not have the culture of documentation although some reports get submitted from time to time. BCCI does a lot of good work which does not get published in the media and they are not aggresively looking to better their image in public either so lots of good work that is done or what they intend to do never comes out in open.

There are many other interesting insights i can throw light on as well

Awesome. Great to have somebody with your background on PP. You have come to the right place

 

[Surya Kiran]

He didn't even mention the most important point. His post is right and I agree with all points but he missed crucial information.

The most important reason for cricket growth in India is economic development and globalisation.

I was mainly highlighting the controllable things for BCCI, economic growth is an external factor

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

How is India clamping down on over-age cricketers? are they being forced to retire?

And does this include guys like Wasim Jaffar who have had a taste of international cricket and are now Ranji stalwarts or just cricketers who have been playing Ranji for a very long time?

 

[JaDed]

I played age group cricket in Hyderabad many years ago and at that time R.Sridhar was Hyderabad's U14 & U16 coach and MSK was playing league cricket for BDL(Bharat Dynamics Limited) and was gracious enough to gift me his gloves. Incidentally, Sridhar is fielding coach and MSK is the chief selector currently. Bharat Arun also served as Hyderabad's coach when Anil Kumble was the coach for that one year for Team India. Now Bharat is India's bowling coach as well and on his input, Siraj was fast tracked into the Indian team.

It also helps that I played with Pragyan and Rayudu as we are from the same college. Rayudu and few other players live few blocks away from my place in Hyderabad, so all this cricket talk is very common in the neighbourhood. Although, no selection details get discussed we generally like to have discussions on various domestic structures and pathways around the world.

I have also done a course on Sports Management where I was privileged to interact with Monty Desai(Rajasthan Royals) and other coaches.

In Indian cricket, we do not have the culture of documentation although some reports get submitted from time to time. BCCI does a lot of good work which does not get published in the media and they are not aggresively looking to better their image in public either so lots of good work that is done or what they intend to do never comes out in open.

There are many other interesting insights i can throw light on as well

Nice and welcome to the forum!

 

[Surya Kiran]

Nice and welcome to the forum!

Thanks JaDed

 

[Surya Kiran]

How is India clamping down on over-age cricketers? are they being forced to retire?

And does this include guys like Wasim Jaffar who have had a taste of international cricket and are now Ranji stalwarts or just cricketers who have been playing Ranji for a very long time?

In terms of over-age cricketers at various age group levels such as U16 & U19. For example, any junior cricketer can play only one world cup even though he is eligible to play more than one. This is forcing them to prepare and play at next level instead of settling for U19 for many years. It is banning players for 2 years if they find cricketers are over the age-limit at U16 & U19. Never before, it came down so hard on players before and it has been very active in this aspect.

BCCI is encouraging players like Wasim Jaffer and even younger players to move to different states for playing opportunities which was not the case before. Senior crickets now have an opportunity to keep playing and also explore coaching/mentoring at the same time. For example, Wasim Jaffer was helping out Chandrakanth Pandit at Vidharbha and because of this stint, he will soon be working with Bangladeshi cricketers as a batting coach at their academy.

Other examples are Rajat Bhatia for Uttarakhand, Abhishek Nayyar for Puducherry. The long-term plan is to create a pool of coaches out of recent cricketers and recently retired cricketers. For the game to be in a healthy state, you need a good ecosystem which includes coaches, trainers, physios, analysts and not just the players.

I am not sure if many are aware that Rahul Dravid is no longer the coach of India A and India U19 teams. Now he will oversee NCA, India A & U19 teams, develop and appoint coaches for all these teams.

WV Raman who is currently the coach of Indian Women's team has come through the same process. He was at NCA and would handle India U19 teams in the absence of Rahul Dravid and did few stints with KKR & Kings eleven. So when the current Indian team management moves on, BCCI already has few home grown coaches to choose from or Paras Mambhrey(bowling coach), Abhay Sharma(Fielding coach) and Devraj Raut(video Analyst) would organically move up the ladder to become involved with Senior Indian team. Vikram Rathore is being groomed as the batting coach

 

[Ahmed216]

Everything is related, with economic growth kids are getting proper food, computers and science is available via internet they are eating healthy food and developing their bodies.

Cricket equipment and academies are easily available for more kids to play. In schools there are coaches and nets. Leather ball matches are much common. Parents mindset of this generation parents has changed slightly now they don't force their kids to be engineer/doctor if ther kid is good in cricket they help him.

Better economy brings TV to everyone's home more kids watch match and get inspired by players. The number of poor has declined compared to 80s,90s so even lower middle class kids which form sizeable number can now afford to play game and if they talented can come up the ranks.

Why do you think bcci is richest board now? It's because of Indian economies growth and cricket crazy population that sponsors invest in cricket in India..

80s and early 90s also our population was huge but we weren't richest board why? Because our economy wasn't tempting enough for foreign giants to invest. Now with such a huge economy everyone wants to have a piece of the pie.

No doubt bcci did a good job exploiting this and taking advantage unlike PCB. If Pakistan economy becomes huge like India's with the population of Pakistan you guys will easily become second richest board.

So in short everything is inter related, and booming economy is the biggest reason. BCCI are competent to have taken advantage of it so credit to them and rest of the points the OP mentioned also.

I agree. Economic reforms post 1991 have done wonders to Indian cricket

 

[Surya Kiran]

I agree. Economic reforms post 1991 have done wonders to Indian cricket

There is still so much of work to do in regards to cricket & infrastructure, planning is on but finding it hard to execute at the grass root level

 

[Ahmed216]

There is still so much of work to do in regards to cricket & infrastructure, planning is on but finding it hard to execute at the grass root level

But its good that every1 in charge is on the same page.

 

[Surya Kiran]

But its good that every1 in charge is on the same page.

Yes, school of thought and approaches are different but end goal is the same

 

[Mueez]

Informative post!

Welcome to the forum Surya Kiran.

 

[Surya Kiran]

Thanks Mueez

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

In terms of over-age cricketers at various age group levels such as U16 & U19. For example, any junior cricketer can play only one world cup even though he is eligible to play more than one. This is forcing them to prepare and play at next level instead of settling for U19 for many years. It is banning players for 2 years if they find cricketers are over the age-limit at U16 & U19. Never before, it came down so hard on players before and it has been very active in this aspect.

BCCI is encouraging players like Wasim Jaffer and even younger players to move to different states for playing opportunities which was not the case before. Senior crickets now have an opportunity to keep playing and also explore coaching/mentoring at the same time. For example, Wasim Jaffer was helping out Chandrakanth Pandit at Vidharbha and because of this stint, he will soon be working with Bangladeshi cricketers as a batting coach at their academy.

Other examples are Rajat Bhatia for Uttarakhand, Abhishek Nayyar for Puducherry. The long-term plan is to create a pool of coaches out of recent cricketers and recently retired cricketers. For the game to be in a healthy state, you need a good ecosystem which includes coaches, trainers, physios, analysts and not just the players.

I am not sure if many are aware that Rahul Dravid is no longer the coach of India A and India U19 teams. Now he will oversee NCA, India A & U19 teams, develop and appoint coaches for all these teams.

WV Raman who is currently the coach of Indian Women's team has come through the same process. He was at NCA and would handle India U19 teams in the absence of Rahul Dravid and did few stints with KKR & Kings eleven. So when the current Indian team management moves on, BCCI already has few home grown coaches to choose from or Paras Mambhrey(bowling coach), Abhay Sharma(Fielding coach) and Devraj Raut(video Analyst) would organically move up the ladder to become involved with Senior Indian team. Vikram Rathore is being groomed as the batting coach

This is outstanding stuff. I had no idea the Indian cricket administrators had so much vision regarding their cricket. And the results are already beginning to show. Fail to see how India won't have a system to rival those of England, Australia in a few years. Perhaps an even superior system few years down the line.

 

[Savak]

Excellent post and Pakistan has still not moved from the dinosaurs in the pcb from the 60's, 70's and 80's

 

[Surya Kiran]

Excellent post and Pakistan has still not moved from the dinosaurs in the pcb from the 60's, 70's and 80's

I guess there are few elephants in BCCI and some of its state associations too, but fortunately some handful associations are coming up with innovative ways and producing cricketers. Delhi District Cricket Association is very similar to way the PCB functions

 

[UP]

This is all good and handy to know. Very informative posts. Cricket growth/passion in South Asia will never stop (not sure about Sri Lanka). South Asia is not a problem. Problem lies in other parts of the world where cricket is dying a slow death. Aus, NZ, Eng, SA, WI, Zim etc are experiencing slow cricketing death. Cricket is not taken seriously by their people. There’s no passion. I’m not sure where cricket will be in next ten years.

I’m sure BCCI is aware of this predicament - they just can’t invest huge amount of money if they aren’t sure where world cricket might be in 10 years or 20 years and so on from now. Cricket needs everyone to be strong, and not just India. It won’t work like that. BCCI won’t survive if cricket dies in other countries.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[UP]

Excellent post and Pakistan has still not moved from the dinosaurs in the pcb from the 60's, 70's and 80's

Wasim Khan has kicked out few babas recently. It will take time, he needs to be given freehand to implement his vision. We need to be patient and hope Khan’s government doesn’t fall.

 

[Surya Kiran]

This is outstanding stuff. I had no idea the Indian cricket administrators had so much vision regarding their cricket. And the results are already beginning to show. Fail to see how India won't have a system to rival those of England, Australia in a few years. Perhaps an even superior system few years down the line.

All of this is in public domain but never gets the attention or gets highlighted as most want to focus on negativity and also in recent times it is not able to do much because it is temporarily run by CoA, constant conflict of interest situations. People in India were rejoicing when BCCI had been intervened and ordered to do certain things. But few of us know that it is setting India back by few years(ex - No new NCA, introduction of new state associations bringing down the quality of domestic cricket). I know not everything is rosy with BCCI but it has been trying to do the best it can in most of the cricketing aspects

Even as the world cup is going on, India "A" had won 2 test series and drew ODI series against Sri Lanka 'A" which boasted of players like Dickwella, Akila Dhananjay and few others players with international experience. Another shadow "A" tour will be happening in July in West Indies as main team is touring there. They are not waiting for the world cup to finish as they are trying to prepare bench strength for test championship.

Even in the past BCCI made an agreement with Australian and South African boards about India "A" touring them and Vice versa. Every year there will be a tri-series ODI between all the 3 countries. 95% percent of the time India "A" won that Tri-series.

 

[Surya Kiran]

Wasim Khan has kicked out few babas recently. It will take time, he needs to be given freehand to implement his vision. We need to be patient and hope Khan’s government doesn’t fall.

That is a very impressive move to get him on board but I don't know if he will be allowed to do his work properly.

In India, Saba Karim is in a similar post but his role is limited to only domestic duties and he will not be interacting with his foreign counterparts

 

[Surya Kiran]

This is all good and handy to know. Very informative posts. Cricket growth/passion in South Asia will never stop (not sure about Sri Lanka). South Asia is not a problem. Problem lies in other parts of the world where cricket is dying a slow death. Aus, NZ, Eng, SA, WI, Zim etc are experiencing slow cricketing death. Cricket is not taken seriously by their people. There’s no passion. I’m not sure where cricket will be in next ten years.

I’m sure BCCI is aware of this predicament - they just can’t invest huge amount of money if they aren’t sure where world cricket might be in 10 years or 20 years and so on from now. Cricket needs everyone to be strong, and not just India. It won’t work like that. BCCI won’t survive if cricket dies in other countries.

Any thoughts on this?

Well, valid concern but there are new teams coming up like UAE, Nepal. Of course, they will not have a rapid rise like Afghanistan. Test cricket could be a problem in most countries or to some extent ODI but T20s are here to stay and will continue to generate interest and attract new audience. BCCI is only investing money on cricket in its own territory and trust me it has a very long way to go with so many new state associations coming up. It cannot control what is happening in other countries.

At one point of time, an innovative idea was mooted where BCCI would invest in infrastructure such as grounds and facilities in countries like USA to cater to Non Resident India fan base. For some reason, this has been on the back burner. Another plan was to invest in cricket infrastructure in a country like Zimbawbe so India U19 & A or even Zonal teams could practice and play there to get used to different conditions. Glad they didn't do that looking at the situation in Zimbawbe currently

Coming back to your question, I guess there is good percentage of South Asian population in the countries you mentioned and they will continue following cricket. In recent times, many South Asian origin players have started representing those countries too and fortunately that will help in cricket still being popular

Final point, it is not just the BCCI, that is betting big on Indian Cricket. Even Star sports owned by Australian has poured in so much money for rights. They are arranging commentary in local languages for IPL and India games in a bid to make it a Pan-India sport product and it reaches most corners of India

 

[Caved12]

Excellent post Surya Kiran!

 

[Surya Kiran]

Excellent post Surya Kiran!

Thanks Caved12

 

[Dingolfy]

Great posts and thanks for the detailed insights. Do you happen to know anything about the extensive background work behind the grooming of our fast bowlers. I am pretty sure the rise of Bumrah, Shami and our U-19 pace bowlers are not accidental but result of years of hardwork and system.

 

[UP]

Well, valid concern but there are new teams coming up like UAE, Nepal. Of course, they will not have a rapid rise like Afghanistan. Test cricket could be a problem in most countries or to some extent ODI but T20s are here to stay and will continue to generate interest and attract new audience. BCCI is only investing money on cricket in its own territory and trust me it has a very long way to go with so many new state associations coming up. It cannot control what is happening in other countries.

At one point of time, an innovative idea was mooted where BCCI would invest in infrastructure such as grounds and facilities in countries like USA to cater to Non Resident India fan base. For some reason, this has been on the back burner. Another plan was to invest in cricket infrastructure in a country like Zimbawbe so India U19 & A or even Zonal teams could practice and play there to get used to different conditions. Glad they didn't do that looking at the situation in Zimbawbe currently

Coming back to your question, I guess there is good percentage of South Asian population in the countries you mentioned and they will continue following cricket. In recent times, many South Asian origin players have started representing those countries too and fortunately that will help in cricket still being popular

Final point, it is not just the BCCI, that is betting big on Indian Cricket. Even Star sports owned by Australian has poured in so much money for rights. They are arranging commentary in local languages for IPL and India games in a bid to make it a Pan-India sport product and it reaches most corners of India

Cricket is dying a slow death in non Asian countries. What will BCCI do if other countries fail to show up in 10 years or so? BCCI needs a strong cricketing world. What will be the point of investing billions in inner circuit when cricket will be dying in other parts of the world? And I’m afraid it might be difficult to stop the landslide.

For example: take a look at the SA team - no AB (half of the team is paralyzed without him). Imagine what will happen after wc when Faf, Tahir, Amla and Steyn will leave. I don’t know if they will be able to compete.

 

[cricket.mad]

Great to have you on board,surya Kiran garu..

 

[dildilpak]

Cricket is dying a slow death in non Asian countries. What will BCCI do if other countries fail to show up in 10 years or so? BCCI needs a strong cricketing world. What will be the point of investing billions in inner circuit when cricket will be dying in other parts of the world? And I’m afraid it might be difficult to stop the landslide.

For example: take a look at the SA team - no AB (half of the team is paralyzed without him). Imagine what will happen after wc when Faf, Tahir, Amla and Steyn will leave. I don’t know if they will be able to compete.

I dont know how BCCI or any other board can influence CSA internal matters - they can help them if asked but apart from that how is it BCCI’s concern if SA has a quota system which is driving away all good players to Kolpak - isn’t that something for CSA to analyze & fix?

Additionally loved reading your insightful posts Surya Kiran, you are a welcome addition to this motley group.

 

[Surya Kiran]

I dont know how BCCI or any other board can influence CSA internal matters - they can help them if asked but apart from that how is it BCCI’s concern if SA has a quota system which is driving away all good players to Kolpak - isn’t that something for CSA to analyze & fix?

Additionally loved reading your insightful posts Surya Kiran, you are a welcome addition to this motley group.

Thanks for the welcome dildilpak

 

[Surya Kiran]

Great to have you on board,surya Kiran garu..

Thanks cricket.mad garu

nice to meet people who speak my language lol

 

[Surya Kiran]

Cricket is dying a slow death in non Asian countries. What will BCCI do if other countries fail to show up in 10 years or so? BCCI needs a strong cricketing world. What will be the point of investing billions in inner circuit when cricket will be dying in other parts of the world? And I’m afraid it might be difficult to stop the landslide.

For example: take a look at the SA team - no AB (half of the team is paralyzed without him). Imagine what will happen after wc when Faf, Tahir, Amla and Steyn will leave. I don’t know if they will be able to compete.

There is not much BCCI can do apart from arranging "A" tours for them

 

[Savak]

England and Australia have very big finances for the game of Cricket as well. How come they have not utilized the finances and investments for the game as well as the BCCI?

 

[Surya Kiran]

Great posts and thanks for the detailed insights. Do you happen to know anything about the extensive background work behind the grooming of our fast bowlers. I am pretty sure the rise of Bumrah, Shami and our U-19 pace bowlers are not accidental but result of years of hardwork and system.

Well, firstly it was the mindset and then the nutrition along with fitness. Because being an athlete is very important in how you approach the crease(run up), load up(jump) and putting in the shoulder(release). If you see some one like Bhuvaneshwar's run-up, his intent is not to bowl fast or blast the batsman out. His run-up does not gather enough moment to have that final burst at the bowling crease. Same can be said about both Agarkar and Umesh but both of them are athletes and could get through the crease effectively. Umesh had strong shoulders.

Dhoni always maintained that India simply did not have enough fast bowling resources to take 20 wickets in overseas test matches. Virat's first message as a test captain was a shout out to bowlers especially fast bowlers and to Dravid that he needs fast bowlers at his disposal. So, all the contracted players have to go to NCA in Bangalore every 15 days to get their fitness levels checked even though they are not in the team. As everyone knows, Indian team left beep test behind and now use yoyo test. Apart from this, with the help of Patrick Farhart & Basu, they have undergone many tests such as skinfold test and other tests.

The link for that is below

https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cric...g-dnagenetic-fitness-test/article20321195.ece

This was done in 2017 and it was very very expensive. In 2018, test was done on young cricketers to evaluate their Anthropometric charateristics. To this day, I cannot understand what that is lol

Lots of other tests were done to see how cricketers from south are different from north, west and east of India genetically and what is the best way to train them

After all these tests, fitness programs and nutrition was designed for individuals specifically

Most importantly, fast bowlers are being encouraged to run in harder with intent rather than approach the crease smoothly subject to their bowling actions

Main difference is the run up and approach to the crease to gain momentum

 

[Surya Kiran]

England and Australia have very big finances for the game of Cricket as well. How come they have not utilized the finances and investments for the game as well as the BCCI?

England has introduced cricket and county is being played for so long. Hence, they don't have much scope to alter things

Australia, there are only 6 states in the country, where else will they put the money. For them, the emphasis is more on creating the ecosystem rather than producing players because they firmly believe if ecosystem is in place with good domestic structure, players will keep coming

Both their boards invest heavily on their academies, coaching programs, umpiring programs, A tours

Everyone is far behind Australia in terms of NCA and the scientific research that goes on

 

[Abdullah719]

[MENTION=150477]Surya Kiran[/MENTION] Really informative series of posts here. Great work.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Awesome read...and awesome comments by PeePers........
Question for Surya.....Bro since you are in the loop with all this know how, players access etc....

How about our pathetic pitches?......

whats BCCI, the home associations doing to improve them.....

Now my defination of a 'GOOD' pitch differs from you and possibly any PeePer reading this....
My def'n is till the time the coin lands the Kaptaan is undecided what to do if he/she wins...

for a test or Ranji/Q-E-A FC - it should aid pace for 1.5 days, next 2.5/2.25 days of batting and remaining 1.25/1.5 days should aid spin.

-the one non negotiable is the BOUNCE should be EVEN....

-the nearest i think we got to this was Ind vs Aus - 4th test at Dharamshala - which we won....that pitch was awesome-had all for all trades of bowlers and batsmen. As an indian i felt proud of that victory, wheres most on raging turners are just home town muscle....

The next i can think of is ind vs SL when we went there in 2015-those pitches had something for all...
-those two i have mentioned should be the template for Asian pitches....surely....

- If pitches have h even bounce u can also develop good slipsmen, wickies and close in fielders.....
-Now i remember BCCI in all their hallowed wisdom created a group called the 'pitches committee' or some other jargonish fluff and this was headed by kapil dev, sometime in the mid 2000's
-When i came to know of this - i thought we are headed in the right direction, kapil will definately pump for quick pitches instead of the serial spitting snake pit excuse of turning pitche we have....
-kapil resigned stating no one in BCCI was listening to him & the grandioise 'Pitches committee' went down the gurgler...
My specific question to you would be Whats our strategy for pitches, moving forward?
What steps are we taking to ensure a steady flow of pacemen....read real quickies...batsmen whocan play place and swing....
-can we produce really 'Sporting' wickets...?
-is there a real intent to produce quick bouncy wickets in the Ranji, 2nd league, collegue levels....u 19 levels?

I would appreciate your and any one else's response....cheers...

 

[Surya Kiran]

Awesome read...and awesome comments by PeePers........
Question for Surya.....Bro since you are in the loop with all this know how, players access etc....

How about our pathetic pitches?......

whats BCCI, the home associations doing to improve them.....

Now my defination of a 'GOOD' pitch differs from you and possibly any PeePer reading this....
My def'n is till the time the coin lands the Kaptaan is undecided what to do if he/she wins...

for a test or Ranji/Q-E-A FC - it should aid pace for 1.5 days, next 2.5/2.25 days of batting and remaining 1.25/1.5 days should aid spin.

-the one non negotiable is the BOUNCE should be EVEN....

-the nearest i think we got to this was Ind vs Aus - 4th test at Dharamshala - which we won....that pitch was awesome-had all for all trades of bowlers and batsmen. As an indian i felt proud of that victory, wheres most on raging turners are just home town muscle....

The next i can think of is ind vs SL when we went there in 2015-those pitches had something for all...
-those two i have mentioned should be the template for Asian pitches....surely....

- If pitches have h even bounce u can also develop good slipsmen, wickies and close in fielders.....
-Now i remember BCCI in all their hallowed wisdom created a group called the 'pitches committee' or some other jargonish fluff and this was headed by kapil dev, sometime in the mid 2000's
-When i came to know of this - i thought we are headed in the right direction, kapil will definately pump for quick pitches instead of the serial spitting snake pit excuse of turning pitche we have....
-kapil resigned stating no one in BCCI was listening to him & the grandioise 'Pitches committee' went down the gurgler...
My specific question to you would be Whats our strategy for pitches, moving forward?
What steps are we taking to ensure a steady flow of pacemen....read real quickies...batsmen whocan play place and swing....
-can we produce really 'Sporting' wickets...?
-is there a real intent to produce quick bouncy wickets in the Ranji, 2nd league, collegue levels....u 19 levels?

I would appreciate your and any one else's response....cheers...

BCCI tried tinkering with pitches and told 4mm of grass should be necessary on Ranji wickets but that was making bowlers with even 120 kmph look very ominous. In 2017-2018 season, they introduced away policy for Ranji matches where no team will play matches in its home grounds to avoid home advantage and there were neutral curators. This was a logistical nightmare so this season, they switched back to home and away Ranji matches with knock outs in neutral venues.

That committee had Daljit from Mohali and late Prabir from Kolkatta who would never listen to anybody and did everything as they wanted. They knew others couldn't replace them as they had good amount of experience and worked in ICC events and there is no constant flow of other curators as you would know there is not much dignity of labour in India.

Our curators are being exposed to and encouraged to learn different soil types, testing, be more scientific and use sample sizes of different countries.These courses are also very expensive and BCCI is conducting classes every year to educate them. It is a very time taking process.

In the meanwhile, India U19 players have camps in Dharmasala instead of NCA in Bangalore to practice on good and different pitches.

There are planning to get different types of drop in pitches from across the world for net sessions in the new NCA

 

[Saj]

A good read.

The BCCI for all of its criticism has invested heavily in 4-day domestic cricket which I think is the key to producing world-class cricketers.

 

[Surya Kiran]

A good read.

The BCCI for all of its criticism has invested heavily in 4-day domestic cricket which I think is the key to producing world-class cricketers.

Not just the BCCI, many state associations have invested heavily on long format cricket except for Delhi cricket where they continue to pick players for their Ranji team from 40 overs and 20 overs cricket tournaments

For other associations, it is opposite, players at the league level play 2 days and 3 days format, based on the performances in these tournaments players get picked up for their Ranji and Vijay Hazare sides(limiterd overs cricket). It is definitely the case for Hyderabad Ranji team

Mahela Jayawardena actually suggested the same for Srilankan school cricket too in his presentations to his board

 

[TamiL_GarvaM!]

Awesome read...and awesome comments by PeePers........
Question for Surya.....Bro since you are in the loop with all this know how, players access etc....

How about our pathetic pitches?......

whats BCCI, the home associations doing to improve them.....

Now my defination of a 'GOOD' pitch differs from you and possibly any PeePer reading this....
My def'n is till the time the coin lands the Kaptaan is undecided what to do if he/she wins...

for a test or Ranji/Q-E-A FC - it should aid pace for 1.5 days, next 2.5/2.25 days of batting and remaining 1.25/1.5 days should aid spin.

-the one non negotiable is the BOUNCE should be EVEN....

-the nearest i think we got to this was Ind vs Aus - 4th test at Dharamshala - which we won....that pitch was awesome-had all for all trades of bowlers and batsmen. As an indian i felt proud of that victory, wheres most on raging turners are just home town muscle....

The next i can think of is ind vs SL when we went there in 2015-those pitches had something for all...
-those two i have mentioned should be the template for Asian pitches....surely....

- If pitches have h even bounce u can also develop good slipsmen, wickies and close in fielders.....
-Now i remember BCCI in all their hallowed wisdom created a group called the 'pitches committee' or some other jargonish fluff and this was headed by kapil dev, sometime in the mid 2000's
-When i came to know of this - i thought we are headed in the right direction, kapil will definately pump for quick pitches instead of the serial spitting snake pit excuse of turning pitche we have....
-kapil resigned stating no one in BCCI was listening to him & the grandioise 'Pitches committee' went down the gurgler...
My specific question to you would be Whats our strategy for pitches, moving forward?
What steps are we taking to ensure a steady flow of pacemen....read real quickies...batsmen whocan play place and swing....
-can we produce really 'Sporting' wickets...?
-is there a real intent to produce quick bouncy wickets in the Ranji, 2nd league, collegue levels....u 19 levels?

I would appreciate your and any one else's response....cheers...

For specifically pitches, i am no expert...i assume the atmospheric conditions have a big say...
for eg - you cant import soil from Perth- transplant that in Kanpur and hope that the green park wicket will be one in which the keeper takes it round his neck....
- or you can t replicate headingley like conditions in Poona/mohali/nagpur/chennai etc....
-What you can do is prepare with what you can control.....ie the conditions, the soil, the available labour etc....

But i do agree with ur point - India, and i guess the world wide needs more 'sporting' wickets...sick of seeing those in which only one type of bowlers or batsmen thrive...
-and as your rightl pointed out a lot of indian victories on spin mamba pitches is misleading and a real home towners and yeah...Dharmashala test 2017 vs aus-that pitch was awesome...

Can Surya Kiran or someone else throw light on if theLodha commision that was appointed recently , also reviewed pitches or pitch preparation?
what steps are in place to prevent disgraceful pitches like ind vs saf home series in 2015 (or was it 2016)....u know the one in which part timers like Dean Elgar bowled like murali/warne etc.....
if we improve pitches or do an extreme makeover-that is the starting point of breeding pacemen, batsmen who wil ldo well overseas...etc....

 

[Surya Kiran]

[MENTION=150477]Surya Kiran[/MENTION] Really informative series of posts here. Great work.

Thanks Abdullah719

 

[Saj]

I had the pleasure of chatting with Wasim Jaffar at acharity match last year and he was telling me just how professional Indian cricket has become from junior level right up to domestic level. How everyone had to be accountable for their actions and how there was no room for nepotism now.

 

[Surya Kiran]

For specifically pitches, i am no expert...i assume the atmospheric conditions have a big say...
for eg - you cant import soil from Perth- transplant that in Kanpur and hope that the green park wicket will be one in which the keeper takes it round his neck....
- or you can t replicate headingley like conditions in Poona/mohali/nagpur/chennai etc....
-What you can do is prepare with what you can control.....ie the conditions, the soil, the available labour etc....

But i do agree with ur point - India, and i guess the world wide needs more 'sporting' wickets...sick of seeing those in which only one type of bowlers or batsmen thrive...
-and as your rightl pointed out a lot of indian victories on spin mamba pitches is misleading and a real home towners and yeah...Dharmashala test 2017 vs aus-that pitch was awesome...

Can Surya Kiran or someone else throw light on if theLodha commision that was appointed recently , also reviewed pitches or pitch preparation?
what steps are in place to prevent disgraceful pitches like ind vs saf home series in 2015 (or was it 2016)....u know the one in which part timers like Dean Elgar bowled like murali/warne etc.....
if we improve pitches or do an extreme makeover-that is the starting point of breeding pacemen, batsmen who wil ldo well overseas...etc....

That commission has no role to play in pitch preparation. Saba Karim is in charge of domestic cricket operations

 

[TamiL_GarvaM!]

That commission has no role to play in pitch preparation. Saba Karim is in charge of domestic cricket operations

Thanks Surya...m8.....
I enjoyed your post...as well as of others....
I still feel we in india shoud do more to 'improve' our pitches.....should do more to get a conciousness that our pitches are far from ideal....the first step to solving a prob is admitting you have one....
am not saying pitches are our only prob, lots of changes in infra, psyche, media coverage and hype etc.....but we can start by telling young single digit aged johny who wants to bowl quick that hey, give it a fair whirl.....we and ourpitches will support you.....just like how Aus and their system is doing.....what say....

 

[Surya Kiran]

I had the pleasure of chatting with Wasim Jaffar at acharity match last year and he was telling me just how professional Indian cricket has become from junior level right up to domestic level. How everyone had to be accountable for their actions and how there was no room for nepotism now.

It helps to have certain members at key positions - Indian cricket didn't have that before

Rahul Johri - CEO, BCCI
Saba Karim - General Manager, cricket operations
Rahul Dravid - Pathway programs like U19 & A tours

At start of each season, there is a captain coach enclave where captains and coaches of all domestic teams sit together with the people who matter in BCCI and discuss on various points such as umpiring standard, balls usage, quality of pitches, neutral venues, schedules.

 

[Surya Kiran]

Thanks Surya...m8.....
I enjoyed your post...as well as of others....
I still feel we in india shoud do more to 'improve' our pitches.....should do more to get a conciousness that our pitches are far from ideal....the first step to solving a prob is admitting you have one....
am not saying pitches are our only prob, lots of changes in infra, psyche, media coverage and hype etc.....but we can start by telling young single digit aged johny who wants to bowl quick that hey, give it a fair whirl.....we and ourpitches will support you.....just like how Aus and their system is doing.....what say....

I think that process has already been set in motion but results will take time, could be a decade later

 

[TamiL_GarvaM!]

That commission has no role to play in pitch preparation. Saba Karim is in charge of domestic cricket operations

true ...your comments about what the lodha commission is doing.....
what about any real awareness not to produce pitches like the ind-saf series ....or is there any real awareness...or our mentality is still lets spin to win at home on mamba's and win the odd overseas series...

 

[Surya Kiran]

Regarding Ind-SAF test series back then, there was some history to it which played its part. If you remember India toured SA before that where Pujara and Kohli scored some runs in a test match. One of the pitches for that series was very spicy and Kohli got hit on the ribs. After getting out, he was nursing it in the dressing room when Supersport Cameras zoomed in and broadcasted it. He was referred to as a pussycat, can't take pain like a man on the field. He certainly didn't forget that.

Another major factor for such pitches - It was Kohli's first big series as a full time test captain and he felt the need to win it at any cost to get the trust of BCCI to back him as a captain in the long run.

Our mentality has changed but sometimes you have to dish out what you get when traveling. Emphasis has always been on overseas series in recent times. It was just we didn't have the team to win consistently abroad. That is why, you can see the next line of fast bowlers that are being groomed below

- Navdeep Saini(currently as net bowler for Team India in Uk),
- Siraj(for test matches only, toured England, Australia, New Zealand as part of "A" team)
- Avesh Khan(not a regular member of "A" team but has got Dravid's backing so he is involved with the Indian team as a net bowler)
- Ishan Porel(He is last in the pecking order and not a regular member of the "A" team yet)

All of them can clock 140 kph very regularly

- Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti are currently nursing injuries

Test Championship is a new concept and dynamics of preparation will change once they get hang of what test championship will be like every four years

 

[prisha]

Surya kiran garu amazing stuff sir. Good to know the neglected or not highlighted side of BCCI. I am always sad that Rayudu did not get the recognition he deserved. I would love to see more telugu cricketers.

 

[Surya Kiran]

Surya kiran garu amazing stuff sir. Good to know the neglected or not highlighted side of BCCI. I am always sad that Rayudu did not get the recognition he deserved. I would love to see more telugu cricketers.

Hi Prisha garu,

I have been very disappointed with how his career turned out. He was the next big thing in India after Tendulkar and we all assumed that he will be in the position Kohli is today as a premier batsman and captain. But, he is very hotheaded and didn't handle certain off field scenarios very well. In fact, his downfall started right in front of my eyes when that incident happened, it still feels like it happened yesterday only.

Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma are in the test and ODI teams currently. They are telugu even though Rohit cannot speak but understands. Bharat Arun(bowling coach) he is telugu even though he resides in Chennai and Chief selector MSK is also telugu. R.Sridhar(fielding coach) was born in mysore and has been living in Hyderabad and his family speaks telugu too lol

 

[prisha]

Surya kiran garu, Sir amazing info. Do you know from which area Rohit Sharma family is. I never knew he was from a telugu family. Regarding Rayudu it hurts even to think how is talent got wasted. I hope hanuma vihari becomes another vvs. Regarding coaching staff having telugu connections it is a consolation prize.

 

[Surya Kiran]

Surya kiran garu, Sir amazing info. Do you know from which area Rohit Sharma family is. I never knew he was from a telugu family. Regarding Rayudu it hurts even to think how is talent got wasted. I hope hanuma vihari becomes another vvs. Regarding coaching staff having telugu connections it is a consolation prize.

They are from Visakhapatnam/srikakulam area and his mother is from Vizag

 

[Surya Kiran]

In terms of over-age cricketers at various age group levels such as U16 & U19. For example, any junior cricketer can play only one world cup even though he is eligible to play more than one. This is forcing them to prepare and play at next level instead of settling for U19 for many years. It is banning players for 2 years if they find cricketers are over the age-limit at U16 & U19. Never before, it came down so hard on players before and it has been very active in this aspect.

BCCI is encouraging players like Wasim Jaffer and even younger players to move to different states for playing opportunities which was not the case before. Senior crickets now have an opportunity to keep playing and also explore coaching/mentoring at the same time. For example, Wasim Jaffer was helping out Chandrakanth Pandit at Vidharbha and because of this stint, he will soon be working with Bangladeshi cricketers as a batting coach at their academy.

Other examples are Rajat Bhatia for Uttarakhand, Abhishek Nayyar for Puducherry. The long-term plan is to create a pool of coaches out of recent cricketers and recently retired cricketers. For the game to be in a healthy state, you need a good ecosystem which includes coaches, trainers, physios, analysts and not just the players.

I am not sure if many are aware that Rahul Dravid is no longer the coach of India A and India U19 teams. Now he will oversee NCA, India A & U19 teams, develop and appoint coaches for all these teams.

WV Raman who is currently the coach of Indian Women's team has come through the same process. He was at NCA and would handle India U19 teams in the absence of Rahul Dravid and did few stints with KKR & Kings eleven. So when the current Indian team management moves on, BCCI already has few home grown coaches to choose from or Paras Mambhrey(bowling coach), Abhay Sharma(Fielding coach) and Devraj Raut(video Analyst) would organically move up the ladder to become involved with Senior Indian team. Vikram Rathore is being groomed as the batting coach

Dravid has to choose between his long time employment with India Cements or NCA Head, so officially he has not taken over yet

 

[Surya Kiran]

Dravid has to choose between his long time employment with India Cements or NCA Head, so officially he has not taken over yet

Good news -

He will take charge as the Head of NCA

https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cric...article28264341.ece?__twitter_impression=true

 

[Surya Kiran]

Surya kiran garu, Sir amazing info. Do you know from which area Rohit Sharma family is. I never knew he was from a telugu family. Regarding Rayudu it hurts even to think how is talent got wasted. I hope hanuma vihari becomes another vvs. Regarding coaching staff having telugu connections it is a consolation prize.

Unfortunately, Rayudu has called it quits. I don't see any other Telugu player making a big mark in the near future.

 

[prisha]

Unfortunately, Rayudu has called it quits. I don't see any other Telugu player making a big mark in the near future.

So unfortunate. He is still young and I am shocked he is giving up everything. He should at least play IPL. I hope some of our telugu youngsters come up in ranks in future. I pray vihari will make a name for himself.

 

[Surya Kiran]

So unfortunate. He is still young and I am shocked he is giving up everything. He should at least play IPL. I hope some of our telugu youngsters come up in ranks in future. I pray vihari will make a name for himself.

touchwood regarding Vihari