Hubli residents can now watch Ranji Trophy matches in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Stadium at Rajnagar, which along with the Royal Challengers KSCA (RC-KSCA) Cricket Academy, was inaugurated here on Saturday.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, RC-KSCA chairman G.R. Vishwanath, director S.M.H. Kirmani, and assistant director K. Jeshwanth said young cricketers in the region would be given free coaching on the academy’s new premises situated next to the stadium’s pavilion.
Mr. Vishwanath said that the academy aimed to provide the youth with high-class practice, facilities matching international standards and the technology to understand the game better so as to ensure a holistic development of the players’ personality.
Chosen
Thirty-seven aspiring players from the Hubli region (comprising districts under the KSCA Dharwad zone) have been chosen for coaching by the academy.
Anyone who excelled in school, college or league cricket matches would also be chosen for coaching, he added.Mr. Jeshwanth said that RC-KSCA would set up similar centres at Chikmagalur, Raichur and Belgaum in the next three months and had plans to increase its presence by 30 per cent across other districts in the State.
Mr. Kirmani said that the academy believed in maintaining the originality of the player and uniformity in coaching for the all-around growth of young cricketers.
A cognitive video-based coaching (CVBC) programme, introduced by the academy in Bangalore had made a lot of difference, Mr. Kirmani said.
However, since the CVBC programme was expensive, the academy would need some time and funds to extend the facility to other centres in the State.
Convener of the association’s Dharwad zone Baba Bhusad said that many matches had been conducted in the past few years to provide exposure to local cricketers and help them hone their skills.
Among those present were coaches of the Hubli academy Pramod Kamat and Armugam, along with the association’s Shimoga zone convener G.R. Nagaraj.
