There is a saying that behind every successful cricketer is a coach who works hard behind the scenes with the players. During this coronavirus pandemic many people from the cricketing fraternity have got affected & the hard working coaches at the grassroot level are one of those who are facing a stressful time.
For a person who spends almost half of the day on the ground daily between cricket bats, balls, stumps and players on a soil whose smell is a like perfume to them, its indeed difficult to stay away from the game. Staying distant from the game is just one of the concerns which they are dealing with, the bigger concern for many coaches is the financial difficulties which they are going through. The coaches who work in small cricket academies, schools & colleges, the coaches who work independently on a student to student basis, most of them are sitting at home since last few months which has made things going difficult for them. There are many coaches who are sole earners of the family & we came across many such coaches who were forced to sell vegetables and daily essentials to support their families.
Cricketgraph checked with a few coaches at the grassroot level to get some insights about how they are dealing in lockdown and we got to know different perspectives from the coaches.
Sunil Mehra, who is an experienced coach with 20+ yrs of experience shared with Cricketgraph: “As a cricket coach, things are getting very difficult, since the beginning of lockdown, the schools and academies have kept shut, our feet have not touched the ground since months, we have not received our remuneration since last few months. When Sunil raised this concern for” Support to the Coaches” with one of the big authorities in the cricket fraternity, all they offered to such senior coaches was a month of ration which Sunil & other coaches felt humiliating. When asked further on how he manages during lockdown and what future looks like, Sunil shared “I am conducting online training sessions with a few students, even though it’s good to do something than nothing, it can never ever match the experience of live training on the ground being one on one with the player….Sunil further said, if things continue to be stressful like this and lockdown doesn’t end, I might have to take up a job outside cricket fraternity too”
The one thing which actually made it emotional was when Sunil Mehra shared “There are a few coaches at academy & school level who are selling vegetables and daily essentials to support their families, with no hopes or support around, these coaches have already left for their native place…
One more Coach from Saurashtra who also works in the railways shared “things are indeed difficult and I am dedicating my time in fight against coronavirus, as a western railway employee I am working in extra shifts while my academy has been closed since last 4 months with not a single rupee of revenue coming out of it…. Also once the lockdown is lifted, it’s not going to be easy as parents will be hesitant to send their kids immediately to practice with the fear of corona around.
Powered by CS and Sons , our next interview with the senior statesmen of the game-Pravin Amre was quite insightful ! .The former Indian Cricketer-Pravin Amre has represented India in Tests and ODIs. Pravin Amre made a hundred on test debut vs the most hostile bowling attack and playing conditions in South Africa. A pace attack which consisted of Donald, Pringle & Macmillan.
Amre sir also had a celebrated first class career with an average of almost close to 50.00 in 86 first class games representing 7 states including our Mumbai Ranji Trophy Team. As a coach, he is regarded to be one of the respected seniors in the cricket field, under his tutelage, India U19 team won World Cup in 2012.
Amre sir has also coached Mumbai team while he has worked as a talent scount with Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in IPL. His latest assignment was with the United States National Team where he was selected as the Batting Coach. The interview is powered by @csandsons which is one of the oldest and reputed leather ball manufacturing companies producing high quality leather balls for professional level cricket matches at great prices
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Our next interview is with a man whose stature for Mumbai would be on par with the former domestic greats of Mumbai. . . Yes we are talking about Abhishek Nayar , the former Indian Cricketer who has had a prolific domestic career primarily for Mumbai with 5749 runs @45.62 with a highest score of 259 & 173 wkts to his name.
Stats apart, he has been one player who has played a crucial part in numerous Mumbai wins & to name a few, it was his knock of 99 which set up Mumbai to its 38th Ranji Title. That was him as a player, as a coach too, he has been a transformational personality who has helped numerous players at grassroot to international level.
We all know by know his contribution as a coach for Dinesh Karthik making a comeback to the Indian side, apart from that too, the KKR head coach has mentored a number of cricketers with his unique style of coaching & talent spotting ability.
In this elaborate interview, Abhishek spoke quite honestly about the way he coaches, his relationship with Dinesh Karthik and other Indian players he has groomed. Abhishek Nayar also speaks at length about his own career to his coaching stint with KKR and his experience with Shubman Gill who is hailed to be the next big thing of Indian Cricket. Abhsihek also answers the top Cricketgraph Community Questions powered by Healthtrek healthcare.
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For a man who has achieved so much and yet he deserved much more, there was a certain amount of gratitude, humility & grace with which Faiz fazal gave this honest interview to Cricketgraph.
We got to know a player with zero complaints towards what he missed out on achieving while his positive attitude towards everything is also something to learn for every aspiring cricketers.
Faiz spoke on a number of topics right from being a back to back Ranji Trophy Winner to his approach on not getting enough opportunities in India team or IPL to his leadership abilities. Faiz also happily answered the top community Questions powered by Healthtrek healthcare.
When you are humble with a clean heart, you tend to be very clear and honest with your thoughts & approach. There is some level of purity in every word you speak and interview with Wasim Jaffer was probably one of those honest interviews we have had in the recent times.
Without mincing any words, Wasim Jaffer spoke about so many insightful things right from his opinion & feedback for Mumbai Cricket, the tournaments of Mumbai Cricket, his opinion on the current generation of coaches, the underage issue, the over emphasis on fitness amongst today’s young athletes to his coaching stint with Bangladesh U19 Team to the players he found impressive from the Vidarbha setup where he conquered the final frontier i.e his last Ranji Trophy Title in 2019 before retiring in all forms of the game in March, 2020.
The Cricketgraph community section powered by @nutrezy will be released tomorrow.
Our recent interview with Sarfaraz Khan was quite fun as he shared a number of things to our Cricketgraph host Anoop Bindal from his hometown, U.P.
From making a comeback to Mumbai Ranji Trophy in supreme style to how he copes up with the pressure of Mumbai Cricket to how he interacts with his seniors Suryakumar & Aditya Tare to his IPL Journey to his interactions with Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar & Chris Gayle .The interview has been quite gripping for the cricket fans to watch.
Sarfaraz marked his presence from a very young age itself. From scoring a gigantic knock of 439 in the Giles Shield to representing India U19 team in two world cup editions wherein he was amongst the top scorers both the times.
Sarfaraz this season made a fitting comeback for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy notching up 928 runs at an average of 154.67 which includes a double hundred followed by an unbeaten 301*, the kind of knocks wherein he stamped his mark all over the country.
Apart from that his IPL journey with RCB was also quite special wherein he invented his own ramp and scoop shots taking on International bowlers with ease. Sarfaraz is currently picked up by Kings XI Punjab & he will be one batsman to watchout for in the coming seasons.
Sarfaraz also answered Community Questions powered by Hell Energy.
Wasim Jaffer, the Former Indian Test Opener & Ranji Trophy stalwart is appointed as the Head Coach of Uttarakhand Cricket team for the upcoming domestic season. Known for his traditional technique and cricketing approach, Wasim Jaffer is hailed to be one of the relevant torch bearers to carry the legacy of Red Ball Cricket ahead to the current generation of cricketers.
Wasim Jaffer’s inclusion to the Uttarakhand setup is certainly a big positive move for the young players who are in Plate Group (Ranji Trophy) at present. Wasim Jaffer who announced his retirement plans in March 2020 had shared in a recent interview with Cricketgraph too that coaching will be a natural progression for him. This is for the first time Wasim Jaffer will begin his stint as a head coach for any senior state team.
Wasim Jaffer who has two away double centuries for India in Test Cricket is the highest Ranji Trophy Run scorer for India. He also has a decorated domestic career spanning over 2 decades with 10 Ranji Trophy Titles to his name. His final Ranji Trophy Title came with Vidarbha wherein his contribution played a major role in the team’s progress.
Uttarakhand played the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy in 2018-19 season against Vidarbha. But they have gone back to Group D (Plate group) & Wasim Jaffer believes this will be a big challenge as well as a good experience to start from the bottom.
Wasim Jaffer has mentored a lot of youngsters in Mumbai and he is known to be a helping hand for many cricketers even in the Vidarbha team. Wasim Jaffer’s quote to Hindustan Times “In my last five-six years, I have mentored youngsters; it is something which I enjoy, to be honest. I take a lot of happiness to help the youngsters and see them grow,” added Wasim Jaffer, who has represented India in 31 tests, 2 ODIs alongwith 67 first class tons amounting to over 24,000+ first class runs.
Dreams do come true 🌸
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Remember Digvijay Desmukh, the child prodigy role of Ali who would practice on marbles & hit clean sixes with ease in 2013 film Kai Po Che?
Yes that same child prodigy who started off playing U14 school tournaments in Mumbai bagged a contract with Mumbai Indians in the 2019 auctions. The Maharashtra seamer who touches 130+ with the ball was rewarded for his performance in U23 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he took 9 wkts in the tournament. On his Ranji Debut vs J&K he scored 83 runs alongwith a 6 wkt haul !
The only wish which will remains unfulfilled will be-Digvijay had promised Sushant during their Kai Po Che days that when he becomes a successful cricketer, he will come to meet him personally. .
Digvijay more often than not gets annoyed when he is labelled as an actor. According to him, the AD’s (assistant directors) spotted him in the U14 trials and he gave it a shot to work in the film or else he was and he will always be a cricketer who wishes to play consistently for his state team across all the formats.
Do you know what makes us happy at Cricketgraph? It’s when a grassroot level cricketer progresses everyday in his career and we play a small if not substantial role in it.
As one of the biggest platforms for active cricketers, Cricketgraph through its social media platforms creates content and promotes various players across different divisions and parts of the country. Our platform helps players get recognized, many a times a lot of coaches as well as cricket teams or clubs spot those talents and they get a better opportunity to play & that’s where we feel our job is done well!
One of the recent examples of a player benefiting through our platform is 26yr old Harshil Doshi from Mumbai. Harshil who plays various MCA as well as corporate tournaments was practicing in the nets at Payyade Sports Club, Kandivali. His bowling video recieved more than a 60,000 views on instagram and what’s more he was spotted by none other than Former Mumbai Ranji Trophy Stalwart and Current Coach at the KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) Academy-Abhishek Nayar.
Now, Harshil who aims to play T20 Mumbai as well as Ranji Trophy got an opportunity to bowl under the tutelage of Abhishek Nayar where he now bowls to various Ranji Trophy and IPL Cricketers since past one year. Harshil shares with Cricketgraph “ Everyone aims to get trained under Abhishek Nayar, we all know how much he has helped many Indian & Domestic Cricketers. Getting spotted by Nayar sir and getting an opportunity to just even bowl in nets to big players under his supervision is a big thing where i get to learn so many things! I would give full credits to Cricketgraph as well as thank Cricketgraph who promoted me on their platform and made this possible!
The principle of reversibility states that if training is decreased or stopped physiological adaptations linked with it will be reversed. A phrase linked with this is “Use it or lose it”.
But what happens when a situation like the current lockdown restricts you from training on the field or in the gym. How much impact can it have on your fitness level and how to ensure you come out stronger post lockdown?
Detraining and its impact on athletic traits with a solution for each trait a perspective from Ankit Tivrekar: Strength and power expert ASCA.
Cardiovascular Endurance:
During a period of complete cessation from training cardiovascular fitness typically declines much quicker than gains made in strength/power. It may take 6-10 days of complete deprivation from cardiovascular training to start
seeing a significant decline. As most field-based sports require you to have a good endurance level to prevent you from gassing out during competition it is safe to say good aerobic capacity is a foundation for other traits like
speed and power. So the question is how do we work on this not so fancy fitness quality?
Solution
For sports which are primarily characterized by stop-start nature like Squash, Cricket, Football, Tennis whether it is jump, side shuffle, back paddle, or sprinting at various velocity. With my athletes I like to use staircase runs, 10-15 seconds effort interspersed with an equal amount of active rest which can be light jog or just walk depending on current fitness level, this can be done for 20 minutes one or two times a week. The rest period not only helps you to recover but also ensures good form on the staircase run, this type of training is called “High-intensity aerobic
system conditioning”.
Strength
Unlike cardiovascular endurance strength can be maintained for as much as 4 weeks after withdrawal. However your eccentric strength (Ability to absorb force) may decline much faster which crucial is for skills like jumping and sprinting at high velocity. Unless you are one of those who can afford a home gym with barbells and dumbbells challenging yourself with just bodyweight movements may look impossible. Here is a “weird” strength solution for you.
Solution
In the absence of free weights I prefer using a method called “Overcoming Isometrics“. Overcoming Isometrics are when you push or pull against a static object, ideally, in a gym setting we may use a barbell in the squat rack but in our case a towel can do the trick. This may sound easy however if done with max intensity can activate maximum muscle fiber. You may use Squat, Lunge, or Deadlift pattern where you place the towel under your feet and hold both the ends in each hand and try to pull with max intent for 4-5 seconds for as much as 4-5 sets with 2-3 minutes rest between each set. Since strength can be retained for a longer time training it 1-2 times with overcoming isometrics should provide enough stimulus.
Power
Athletes who have gained power through training are more susceptible to lose power rapidly during breaks. According to studies athletes who were able to maintain strength failed to produce the same amount of force post
4 weeks of detraining this because power has an element of speed not just strength. If periods of detraining are expected, it's important to have a period of intense training before detraining or tapering
Solution
As a strength and conditioning coach to A-division cricketers and national level boxers I believe power can be a key differentiator in a match imagine being in the last round of a losing boxing match and being able to connect with a jaw-breaking uppercut or in a super over the situation in cricket.
Medicine ball training and plyometric exercises can be helpful to build and maintain power. Using medicine balls of varying weight for slams, throws, toss in variable movement patterns as per your sport can help maintain power. Plyometrics are mainly jump based exercises to generate maximum force in a short timeframe, these can be progressed to hops leaps and bounds.
The Key is low volume maximum intensity as the goal is force not fatigue.
Max Speed
A trait like speed can witness drop in as short as two weeks and these are the most valuable quality for most sports. It is said that speed is the most expensive fitness quality for an athlete.
Solution
With sprint-based athletes like fast bowlers I use power bands for stationery sprints as you can get an incline angle specific to sprinting and helps you to produce max force. Here the focus is on max effort in minimum timeframe, 4- 5 seconds of all-out sprint followed with 60-90 second rest can ensure you are ready to repeat with no loss in
speed.
Conclusion
As you can see there are no hard and fast guidelines mentioned but it can give you a fair idea on how to ensure a player’s adaptation and fitness levels are not lost in this tough period. The last thing would be to ensure a gradual return to play when things start easing too much too soon can be a shortcut to injury. Wish you the best for your athletic endeavor.