'Bengal cricket suffers due to lack of proper coaches'

According to former cricketers of the state, Bengal's talented juniors are failing to make it big at the senior level due to lack of proper coaching and funds.

Bengal's talented junior cricketers are failing to make it big at the senior level due to lack of proper coaching and funds, according to two former cricketers of the state.

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"A number of coaches, who are guiding the kids, are incompetent and lack a proper understanding of the game," former Bengal spinner Utpal Chatterjee said at a function in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Former Bengal skipper Devang Gandhi felt that though the state's young cricketers were more competent than their counterparts in other states, they have not been able to make it big because 'there is a funds crunch as local sponsors are not coming forward.'

"Instead of spending more time on the field with the kids, the coaches are busy with other activities," Gandhi said at the pre-inaugural programme of the Ultra-Plus Balak Sangha School of Cricket.

However, he was optimistic about things improving and proper training and infrastructure coming to the aid of the youngsters.

Speaking at the same function, Mayor-in-Council (Parks and Gardens) of Kolkata Municipal Corporation FA Khan said the civic body would organise a under-16 knockout tournament spread across all the 141 wards.

The top performers in the tourney would participate in the Mayor's Cup. The dates for the two tournaments were yet to be finalised.