Azharuddin: Odisha should concentrate on grassroots cricket training
Azharuddin: Odisha should concentrate on grassroots cricket training
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Bhubaneswar: Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has remarked that Odisha has to focus on grassroots training to develop more players for the national squad.
“Despite having enough cricket infrastructure, Odisha has struggled to develop national-level players due to a lack of attention on grassroots training. The players' standard will undoubtedly increase as a result of the training,” he told the press here.
On Saturday, the ace cricketer landed in Bhubaneswar at the request of the Utkal Gourav Foundation to supervise the construction of a cricket academy in Khurda.
According to Azharuddin, the government should identify and address budding talents at the district and village levels. He believes that this will allow the young cricketers to focus on their game and perform better without being under pressure.
He did stress, though, that the lads must perform consistently because there is fierce competition for a spot in the national squad.
Azharuddin also lauded the Odisha government for its role in enhancing hockey's standards.
He claimed that Odisha players had established themselves in the national men's and women's hockey teams, citing their outstanding performance in the just concluded Tokyo Olympics. “The government should make comparable efforts in the state to improve cricket,” he added.
He told that Utkal Gourav Foundation will put up another training centre on 100 acres of land in Keonjhar district after viewing the proposed cricket academy location in Barunei, Khurda.
4,000 trainee students from Class I to XII will be enrolled in the two cricket academies, where they will be able to define their cricket careers alongside their education.
In two months, the blueprints for the two academies will be completed.
