If there ever was an inspirational story, this is the one. Dev Dutt, have you ever heard the name? No? Well, here’s a perfect example of how nice men don’t finish last. Coming from nothing, Dev Dutt is now a highly respected coach in Delhi and for a very good reason but it didn’t start out that well. Dutt waives off fees for players who can’t afford it. He also takes care of them, looking after their food, equipment, travelling, etc. Here, the Delhi coach tells Cricketgraph how a boy from a struggling household became one of the most successful coaches in India.
After a short career as a player, he was forced to stop playing cricket due to his elder brother’s death. As his sibling’s death ceased the only stream of income for the family, Dutt decided to step up and take responsibility giving up his dream of becoming a cricketer. He packed up his kitbag for good and started coaching in a nearby academy.
Gursharan Singh, an ex-Indian Test player helped Dev get a job as a coach in his academy and just this way, his coaching career began at the young age of 19. Dev was vastly helped by Gursharan Singh financially as well. There was one more person who deserves credit for taking care of Dutt, Rajpal Solanki. Solanki has been with Dev for every step in the way. He has helped him during his tough time and even after Dev has become a successful coach, they help each other. When asked, Dev Dutt praised and lauded these two selfless humans.
After working hard for years and supporting his family, Dev tied the knot in 2012. Just one year later he got his big break and established his own academy in Delhi. Currently he has two academies, Venkateshwar Cricket Academy and Harbeer Cricket Academy. They were an instant hit and were flooded with young budding cricketers. The most interesting thing to know is Dev Dutt doesn’t charge players who are financially unstable. In his words “If you have talent but you are unable to pay the fees, I will take care of everything. I don’t want anyone else to struggle like I did.”
There have been several players in the domestic circuit representing different states at different levels that have been coached by Dutt. Sagar Dhaiyan, Siddhant Dogra, Shreyansh Mahi and Akshay Singh are a few players under coach Dutt who went on to represent their respective states. India U-19 player Aryan Dalal is a student of Coach Dutt as well. After applying for the position of coach for the Deaf Indian Cricket Team, he was selected as a temporary one. There was a communication barrier but the President of the team helped him with sign language. Other than that, everything was smooth flowing. After the tour, the team was so impressed that they assigned Dutt as the permanent coach. As of 2022, the Deaf Indian Cricket Team are preparing for the upcoming Champions Trophy coached by Sir Dev Dutt. The tournament will start in September.
Apart from coaching the national team, Dev Dutt still wants to take care of every student who joins his academy. He wants what’s best for the child, leaving his desires aside.
For his monumental efforts as a coach, Dutt will be presented the Gaurav-E-Hind Award on 10th July, 2022 in Delhi.
Meghna Singh, Indian Women’s cricketer signs with playR as her Talent Management Agency, just before departing for her series starting on 23rd June in Sri Lanka.
The express fast bowler made her One Day International debut on 21 September 2021 against Australia and earned a test debut just 9 days later. Meghna Singh also featured in the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. Born in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, she started playing the sport in gully cricket with boys before joining professional coaching under Lakshyaraj Tyagi. Meghna looks up to her idols Jhulan Goswami and Mitali Raj as inspiration and mentors, aspiring to bring laurels for the country for many years to come.
“I found playR as a committed team of professionals into Sports Lifestyle Apparel Equipment Accessories and Talent Management. playR is founded and managed by sports loving and former sports persons, playR understands the needs of a player and has a corporate relationship team for associate tie-ups. I am very happy to sign with playR and looking at a long term association” stated Meghna Singh.
Business Head, Manish Sharma states “‘Player First’ is the spirit of playR and it lives in our products and services” Devjeet Chakraborty, The Sports Business Head added that during the BCCI Calendar Year 2021-22 playR provided equipment and clothing to the Bihar Cricket Association. playR is the Official Fan Gear Partner for Mumbai Indians comprising Apparel for International market and Equipment, Fitness and Accessories for Domestic and International market.
“We are very happy and excited to have Meghna Singh as our Talent Partner who is a very promising, talented and humble cricketer in Indian Women’s Cricket Team” shared by Dharmil Shah the promoter and Director of iCOREts Private Limited. Ravi Kukreja, the co-founder stated that “ India is evolving as a sporting nation and playR endeavors to provide affordable high-quality, international standard products and services to all aspiring sports persons in the country and abroad.”
Meghna Singh has overcome a lot of challenges and is currently representing the country which is a dream of every aspiring sports person irrespective of gender. Sports is gender neutral, one needs to put in a lot of hard work and dedication if he or she aspires to play for the country.
“As a team we are very excited to have Meghna Singh with us. We are already in talks with few leading brands in sports and lifestyle for Meghna Singh” shared by Sanjay Panday who is the Sports Marketing Head
“playR is reaching out into the market with Retail Distribution in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Delhi NCR. playR has more talented players as talent partners who are promising and fresh talents. Signing Meghna Singh, playR is to build and develop Player Management vertical and develop mutually beneficial relationship with our Talent Partner – Meghna Singh” shared by Devjeet Chakraborty-Sports Business Head.
Well, Cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin with the application of heated cups. It’s popular mainly in certain parts of Asia but also in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. 22yr old Badar Batliwala from Mumbai is one such face who has become the torchbearer of Cupping Therapy treatment in Mumbai by not only healing thousands of people but also making this therapy popular in Mumbai as well as across India.
All but 22, Young Badar started off 4yrs back and in those 4 years he has treated over 1500 patients making him one of the prolific cupping gurus in Mumbai specializing in all types of Cupping/Leach therapies. So Cricketgraph got in touch with Badar to know more about his journey and here is a short interview which went along:
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So Badar, what’s your education Background?
I am a Final Year BAMS Student (D.Y. PATIL UNIVERSITY) & Certified Cupping Therapist.
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How you got connected with Sports and other Athletes?
I used to follow some amount of cricket & football since I was young and when I started my own practice of Cupping Therapy, so I thought to myself that the category which would benefit the most through my services would be sports person. Hence I started to advertise my trademarked brand “The Cupping Guru” online and that is when I connected with a lot of athletes including the CricketGraph page itself.
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How and when did you forayed into learning Cupping Treatment?
So when I started out my medicinal undergraduate course (BAMS) in 2018, that is when my father pushed me to learn this therapy as he used to get it done from our family doctor and used to feel that there are great benefits of this therapy. So hence I learnt it as a certified course in my first year of the medical course (BAMS) and hence was doing it as an unpaid internship in various clinics just for experience in the beginning 2 years of my career. Eventually lockdown happened and there was a pressure of meeting my own personal ends and expenses. So hence I started out my trademarked brand “The Cupping Guru” which includes all types of mainstream Cupping Therapies, Leech Therapy & various physiotherapy related services.
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As of today, I am connected with 3 different health centres in Kurla, Ghatkopar & Thane. Apart from those, I provide home service all over Mumbai.
Currently I am in my final year BAMS and attend to my business brand “The Cupping Guru”, attend clinics for medicinal practice & even assist in surgeries too.
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What education or training or course did you went through to learn Cupping?
I did a certified course from a family Dr. friend who has 35+ years of experience in Unani medicines & treatment. Eventually when I started my own individual practice my own medical course of BAMS came in my aid a lot.
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How many years of experience do you hold in Cupping Therapy?
Well it’s been 4 Years now and it has been an exciting journey treating over 1500 patients & still countin…..! I also teach these therapies with Govt. Affiliated certificates only to people who have a medical background and that too just one on one teaching sessions. I believe that is the best way to teach these therapies instead of taking batches and providing a mediocre experience to my students. I believe that at least no one or as a matter of fact no institute in Mumbai can compete with the level of teaching and practical training that I can provide.
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Till now name some of the biggest and high profile clients you have worked with?
I have done these therapies to quite a few TV & Web series actors & politicians as well. Some of my collabs are Cricketer Sarfaraz Khan & Bigboss Fame & Actor Sourabh Patel & Mumbai Cricket Association Apex Council Member Vihang Sarnaik & in future aiming for more collabs as well.
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Reasons why one should opt for Cupping Treatment?
From ancient scriptures to modern researches, Cupping Therapy has proven to be useful in treating a varied number of illnesses and conditions like all pain related condition, boosting blood circulation & immunity, arthritic conditions, BP & Sugar control, Blood Detox, Hairfall & Hair Growth, Skin related conditions and the list just goes on.
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What are the different types of Cupping Therapies?
Various types of Cupping Therapy includes:-
1. Wet Cupping (Hijama)
2. Dry Cupping
3. Fire Cupping
4. Acupressure Cupping
5. Dynamic Cupping
6. Herbal Cupping
7. Water Cupping
8. Ice Cupping
And various subcategories in the types mentioned above. The most mainstream of the above are Wet Cupping, Dry Cupping, Fire Cupping.
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What are your plans or vision ahead with your Cupping Guru Business?
I have gotten really good in the last four years of my career doing these therapies, that I can humbly say that I have been able to compete with other famous medical professionals out there in terms of result oriented practice. So I plan in doing and excelling more in that area.
But in the near future, my endgame is to become a practicing surgeon and hence I would have to hang my hat in this field whenever that happens because doing Cupping Therapy in the future won’t suit my identity as a surgeon. But I have gotten my brand “The Cupping Guru” trademarked and so will be distributing my franchise for the new aspiring Cupping Therapists out there.
As we can see, the young and dynamic Badar has charted off an exciting journey and looks all set to become one of the Top Cupping Gurus in India in the years to come. Cricketgraph wishes Badar all the luck for a great future ahead while stay tuned as we keep unearthing such exciting stories and people connected to grassroot cricket.
Cupping Guru Badar can be reached out on: +91 7738830917
Instagram Id: the_cupping_guru
Cricket is often considered the richest and most popular sport in India. No wonder the cricketers representing India enjoy a great amount of recognition and fame across the world. However, there are often many people connected with cricket who often go under rated & unnoticed. One such personality who has seen almost 4 generations of cricketers in the maidans of Mumbai 7 continues to work in the same profession since decades is Bat Repairer Ashrafbhai.
Ashraf Chacha’s family has been in this profession since almost a century with his shop M Ashraf Bros being into existence since 1920 which means Ashrafbhai’s father, followed by his elder brother to Ashrafbhai now all together having witnessed over 10 decades of cricket reparing bats of cricketing stars spanning multiple generations. Running this family business of bat repairiing since 1920, Ashrafbhai has repaired bats for the likes of Sunil Gavaskar to Dilip Vengsarkar to Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli to Steve Smith to Pollard to Chris Gayle to name a prominent few. Almost all prominent top division to Ranji level Cricketers have repaired or customized their bats atleast once with Ashrafbhai.
Right opposite Metro Cinemas near to Wankhede Stadium, Ashrafbhai with a kitbag on his shoulders filled with bats and bat grips has remained a constant presence since decades. Ashrafbhai is a Master when it comes to fixing broken bats, remaking them, shaving off wood to reduce weight or trimming the handle edges as per the demands of the hard-to-please batters! His fabled tales of generosity is quite popular amongst the cricketers as well. When the Windies cricket team were in a turmoil with their cricket board over player contracts, it was Ashrafbhai who supplied the team with 16 bats without taking a single penny in return. Over the years, Ashrafbhai has repaired bats for many players and he has not charged many of them till date.
During COVID, Ashrafbhai went through a difficult phase, with all maidans being shut and IPL being held abroad, the small shop of Ashrafbhai witnessed no business. Above that, Ashrafbhai was also affected with a Kidney infection and other ailments making things difficult. The employees of his small shop returned back to their villages while Ashrafbhai with no business around was certainly in the need of some financial help to overcome his health condition. To add more woes to his stress, during that difficult time, Ashraf Chacha also lost his elder brother who used to be the support system working together with him.
Leaving such a rich legacy and working for so many decades for en-number of cricketers, Ashrafbhai still did not ask for money from any of the cricketers even from those whom he helped or from those whose payment was due. However, Good things happen to those who do good and Ashrafbhai through his close friend Prashant Jethmalani could make a fitting comeback soon.
Prashant Jethmalani who has been in touch with him for more than 15years managed to raise over 2 lakhs for him while the God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar also came forward to Ashrafbhai’s rescue taking care of expenses to ensure he gets treated. Apart from Sachin, even Sonu Sood came forward and contributed towards Ashrafbhai’s treatment.
With Covid now almost over and Maidans resuming cricket, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for Ashrafbhai as well who has now recovered from his health & aims to start working back in full flow. Like Ashrafbhai, there are many such people from the support staff connected to the field of cricket and sports whose contributions to the game often go unnoticed. Cricketgraph wishes Ashrafchacha the best of health and stay tuned as we envisage to cover more and more such stories across grassroot cricket.
Baddy Boys opting to bat first at Achievers Cricket Ground in Greater Noida posted a massive total on board smashing 232/5 in 20 overs. With openers getting out early, Varun Garg changed the game in no time as he went on to smash a brilliant century. Varun scored 157* off 58 balls smashing 10 fours and 16 sixes covering almost every corner of the ground with his enterprising display of batting.
On the other hand, Smashers did gave a tough fight scoring 201/7 but that didn’t seem enough for them to cross the victory line. Captain Prashant at middle order scored 66 runs off 35 balls while from the bowlers Pankaj Chaswal and Suraj grabbed 2wkts each.
Baddy Boys won by 31 runs and Varun Garg was declared ‘man of the match’ This match was organized by Nitin sir while it was the finale of the 2019 season.
Agile Eleven CC opting to bat first at Teevra Sports Ground in Greater Noida made a total of 251/5 in 20 overs. Dinesh Chauhan opening the innings did the unthinkable scoring a breathtaking knock of 166* runs in just 73 balls. Dinesh owned the day smashing 13 sixes alongwith 16 boundaries at a strike rate of close to 228.00.
Crouching Tigers in reply were all out for 166 runs courtesy some impressive bowling by the Agile bowlers. Rajesh Sharma with 4/42 in 3.4 overs and Dalvir Rawat with 3/15 in 3 overs was the pick of the lot as Agile Eleven CC won the match by 85 runs. Dinesh Chauhan for his brilliant 166* was declared ‘man of the match’ The tournament is organized by Nitin Sir and this was the finale of the 2019 season.
Played at RDS Cricket Ground in Azamgarh, ICA Dullahapur opting to bat first were cleaned up for a modest total of 74 runs in 15.1 overs. Youngster Samir Ali from RDS Cricket Academy showed a lot of promise as he was the pick of the lot returning with exceptional bowling figures of 6/16 in 5 overs including a maiden. Samir was bang on providing timely breakthroughs at the top and middle order.
In reply, RDS Cricket Academy chased down the score with superlative ease crossing the victory line in mere 9th over and winning the match by 9 wkts. Captain Abhishek Yadav played a perfect skipper’s knock scoring 68* off mere 37 balls smashing 8 fours and 5 sixes at a strike rate of almost 184.00 to take the game away in no time!
RDS Cricket Academy won the match by 9 wkts and Samir Ali for his 6wkt haul was declared ‘man of the match’
Played at Parmarth Ground in New Delhi, RKB Cricket Academy U14 team opting to bat first posted a massive total on board scoring 370/7 in 40 overs. No.3 Batsman Ridhaan Malik led from the front top scoring with an aggressive century. Ridhaan scored 111 off mere 79 balls at a strike rate of 140.51 smashing 18 fours and 2 sixes. Wicket-Keeper batsman Swastik Bhati at the middle order also provided a crucial contribution scoring 78 runs off 57 balls smashing 14 boundaries.
M10 Cricket Academy in reply were cleaned up for 140 runs within 30 overs courtesy some tight bowling by RKB bowlers. Mayur Kumar Rajput and Abhinav Mishra were the pick of the lot taking 4 & 2 wkts respectively.
RKB Cricket Academy won the match by 230 runs while Ridhaan Malik was declared ‘man of the match” . RKB team certainly seems to be on roll under the able Coaching of Ravikant Bhatt – a former professional cricketer himself and now ICC Level 1 Certified Coach heading the RKB Cricket Academy.
Mumbai Cricket is full of intense competition and it’s not easy to make it to the Top as there are thousands of cricketers across various levels giving their best. To make a mark for oneself in such intense competition, you certainly need to excel at whatever opportunities which comes across and youngster Prateet Gotsurve from Kharghar, Mumbai has certainly made his presence felt scoring consistently across multiple tournaments in Mumbai Cricket this season.
Some of his Statistics this season:
- Scored more than 1200 plus runs this year with an average of 40.00+
- 200+ runs in MCA Madhav Mantri (C division) in (MCA tournament) with an average of 40.00+ and strike rate of above 100.00+ representing Wellington CC
- 36 runs with 7 boundaries in one of the Pursottam Shield Match (A,B,C DIVISION) (MCA tournament)
- 400+ runs for Corporate Tournaments representing MERCK this year which included 1 century & 3 half-centuries.
- Times shield ‘D’ division T20 format (Mca tournament), In 3 matche, total 60 runs with strike rate of 260.00 playing the finisher role for team. Played a match winning cameo in the finals Scored 22 runs of 8 balls with 3 huge sixes batting at no.7.
- 65 odd runs in 2 matches in Pharma Shield representing Merck Team, scored 33 in 1st match followed by 32* in finals match(which was live on YouTube)
- 40 overs Champions Trophy- (played only 1 match) & scored 59 runs representing Merck.
- Mega Corporate Tournament- Played 2 matches, scored 104* in Semi Finals followed by 25 in finals match representing Merck.
- Champions Trophy T20- 3 matches 140 runs with Best score of 57 runs, also received Best Batsman of this tournament.
- First Green Trophy Lonavala T20, 160 runs in 3 matches with an average of 80.00. Scored 74 in 1st match, 50* in 2nd match & also won best fielder (as a keeper) in First Green Trophy representing Rising Vision Team. Apart from that scored 2 centuries and 8 half-centuries in private tournaments this season.
Prateet shared with Cricketgraph “I thank my coach Digambar sir who has been working hard and training me since years. I’ve been able to perform well this season and my coach certainly gets a good chunk of credit for that”
Prateet is a proper wicket-keeper batsman and seems to be adapting well at the middle order playing those finishing cameos as well as scoring big when the team is in trouble. Prateet who trains under Coach Digambar Pardale practices at Raut Cricket Academy under Digambar sir. Here’s wishing Prateet all the luck for a great career ahead.
Played at KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur, Team Mumbai opting to bat first ensured a run scoring spree smashing a gigantic total of 647/8 in 166.4 overs. Armaan Jaffer at no.3 scored 60 runs while it was Suved and Sarfaraz at the middle order stitching a 267 run stand for the 4th wicket. Suved Parkar who made his Ranji Debut for Mumbai in this match had a dream outing scoring a beautiful double ton. Suved scored 252 off 447 balls smashing 21 fours and 4 sixes. Sarfaraz Khan at no.5 scored 153 off 205 balls hitting 14 fours and 4 sixes. Sarfaraz averages a stunning 140 in his last 13 innings with 6th time crossing the 150 run mark in 13 innings.
Uttarakhand in reply were all out for 114 runs in 41.1 overs with all-rounder Shams Mulani being the pick of the lot. Shams returned with bowling figures of 5/39 in 12 overs to dent Uttarakhand’s aim of making a big total on board. Mumbai in 2nd innings are 261/3 in 58 overs with opener Yashashvi Jaiswal scoring 103 runs off 150 balls.
Mumbai looks in a commanding position on Day 3 and look favorites to make it into semi finals of the prestigious Ranji Trophy.
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@sarfarazkhan97