Badani bats for under-14 cricket

Former Indian cricketer Hemang Badani interacts with the young boys during the LVB under-14 inter-school T20 championship at the PSG Medical College grounds in the city on Monday.

After having done a fine job with the bat and the ball for his State and country, Hemang Badani now wants to catch young talents and mould them into champion materials.

As a first step, with Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) to back his efforts, the former India cricketer has now come up with the LVB Sports under-14 T20 cricket tournament.

“The idea of an under-14 event is because that is the place where you can find great talent. At 16 or 19 it is a little too late,” said Badani.

He said the job was far more easy to spot in a under-14 category.

“When we find a few talented players from the districts then we can look into their future by giving them proper guidance. With the Bank’s help we can try and see if we can set up a proper programme for them.”

A decade ago, former India opener Krish. Srikkanth had a similar tournament for the under-16 boys.

“When Krish played, cricketers ended up playing for India when they were 22 or 23 years of age. Today, they are playing at 19 or even earlier as well. With the advent of the IPL and TNPL, the exposure levels have gone ten-fold,” said the southpaw from Chennai.

“I hope that this tournament will also open doors for the children to play at the big level in future,” he quickly added.

He said this tournament is also being recorded by the TNCA. “The scores will also go to them and if there is even one kid who scores exceptional runs and has not been in the system, then he comes into play.”

For the start, Badani is looking at eight districts and Chennai city.

“We are going to send a proposal to have more districts in future. Even the Bank wants to make sure that it is done well and that the structure is in place. Also, whether my Company (Dream Catcher) can handle it as well. It is initial years for both of us,” he said.

LVB’s vice-president and regional head M. Palaniappan pointed out that the bank was here only to promote the sport.

The tournament, which was inaugurated by the District Association president D. Lakshminarayanaswamy and Badani, started on Monday in four places – Karaikudi, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore and Salem. The second phase will begin mid December at Villupuram, Thanjavur, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli.