K P Cricket Academy to be inaugurated on April 9

THE LONG-AWAITED Cricket Academy in Indore would be inaugurated at Holkar College grounds on April 9. Former Madhya Pradesh Ranji skipper and wicket keeper Kirti Patel, who represented the under-19 Indian cricket team and was a successful coach of under-22 cricket team, has come forward for the development of junior cricket in Indore by starting his K P Cricket Academy.

THE LONG-AWAITED Cricket Academy in Indore would be inaugurated at Holkar College grounds on April 9. Former Madhya Pradesh Ranji skipper and wicket keeper Kirti Patel, who represented the under-19 Indian cricket team and was a successful coach of under-22 cricket team, has come forward for the development of junior cricket in Indore by starting his K P Cricket Academy.

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Patel told reporters here today that he along with Kailash Gupta would start coaching boys in the age group of 8 to 15 years. Their main concentration would be on fielding apart from bowling, batting and wicket keeping. He said the Academy is not only open for Indore boys but also for talented boys from outside the City. He is having negotiations with nearby hostels to accommodate the players who attend the academy from outside.

He said they have prepared couple of turfs along with two matting and concrete pitches for practice the purpose. They would invite all the players for the nets and select them according to their performance and give regular practices.

Patel said the Academy is open for whole year and during raining reason the players would be given training in physical fitness. They are looking for a good gymnasium and would approach the MPCA to use their gymnasium.

Before starting the academy he had a talk with former Indian players Narendra Hirwani and Amay Khurasiya who have come forward to help him by giving tips to the players as and when required. He said he would be inviting professionals at regular intervals to give more tips to the players and upgrade their knowledge in all the fields of cricket.

They can easily accommodate nearly 150 players as they have specious ground and they would be giving training only for talented players after duly screening their abilities.

Patel said that they have full support of MPCA secretary and Indian selector Sanjay Jagdale who has vast experience in coaching and would be giving his tips to the players in the academy at regular intervals. They also got good support from MPCA curator Samunder Singh Chouhan in preparation of the ground and wickets. They would be seeking the help of former cricketers of the state for the development of academy.

Patel said that they would have lush green ground, which would be helping the players in diving practice during fielding practice.

He said the rates for admission to the Academy would be reasonable and it would be affordable for the players. Talented players who are economically backward would be helped by his academy and former cricketers like purchasing cricket kits for them. Kailash Gupta said that they would be visiting interior places to hunt the talented players and would groom them in their academy for the betterment of M P Cricket.