Maxtalent Global Sports has already become a household name in Dubai, thanks to the
persistent efforts of Mr. Sudhakar Shetty, that are aimed at taking Dubai cricket to a higher
level. This academy is not a typical place where the budding cricketers come, practise, and
leave. But there is something more to it. The students of this academy are fortunate to seek
guidance from many of the former cricketers. For instance, by Saqlain Mushtaq on during
2017 visited the Maxtalent Global Sports academy in the summer of 2017 to impart training
on spin bowling. Under the banner of Maxtalent Master Spin Class, the young and budding
cricketers got a chance to not only interact with the spinning wizard but also seek first hand
coaching from him.
After the success of Maxtalent Master Spin Class, Mr. Shetty thought of doing something
similar for the batsmen of his academy. The batting equivalent of Maxtalent Master Spin
Class which was called the Maxtalent Master Batting Class was conducted during the last
four of December 2017 (December 28 – December 31). The students of the academy could
not have asked for a better new year gift than this. The four-day camp was conducted by none
other than one of the India’s finest batsmen; Lalchand Rajput, at Al Nasr Sports Club Dubai.
“The after thought was that the Maxtalent Master Batting Class might not match the success
of Maxtalent Master Spin Class. However, to our pleasant surprise, Maxtalent Master Batting
Class exceeded our expectations. Even though it was holiday period, the turnout was
tremendous. We even had aspiring cricketers from Abu-Dhabi and Fujairah turning up for all
the four days of Maxtalent Master Batting Class programme”, exclaimed Mr. Shetty.
The former India Player, 2007 Team India T20 World Cup Winning coach, India A Team
coach, Mumbai Indians coach, an integral part in getting Afghanistan to Test playing nation
status as head coach, a Consultant & Patron of Maxtalent Trust program
#towards_being_equal and Adivasi development program in Maharashtra, the maestro
batsman Lalchand Rajput made the optimum utilization of the time available and shared the
tricks and trades of batting business. Using Virat Kohli as an example, he laid strong
emphasis on diet and fitness, and expressed that the discipline with respect to eating habits
and exercise complement the cricketing skills of the players. Besides providing and sharing
in-depth batting techniques to trainees between the age group of 12 and 19 years, he himself
got into action. He demonstrated the technical flaws and justified the reasons for failure of
batsmen with poor technique.
To test the knowledge and skills that were absorbed by the players during the camp, an
internal match was played. The temperament of the players during different match situations
was also gauged during the course of play. After the match, Jardel Pereira, a trainee at
Maxtalent averred, “Shot making has now become much more simplified after executing the
techniques that were told by Lalchand sir”.
The last session of Maxtalent Master Batting Class was meant for the coaches. The coaches
engaged in brainstorming session with Rajput, who provided not only valuable inputs to
improve players’ fitness, but also prepare the players for crunch match situation. He also
addressed the queries regarding the challenges faced by coaches while coaching the players.
The former India player was of the opinion that the coaches should adapt according to the
players and understand that every player is different. His parting message to the coaches was
to get to know about newer techniques, out of the box training methods, and to make the art
of cricket teaching more interesting.
On conclusion of the Master Class, trophies were handed out by Lalchand Rajput to Kris
Dholaki, Vinayak Maharaj, and Aryan Vijaykumar, students of Maxtalent Global Sports.
Played at the Sainath Sports Club in Virar, two really talented teams namely Holy Family Convent High School and National School took on each other where in Holy Convent won the toss and elected to bat first expecting the wicket to have something for the bowlers.
However, they were in for a shock when they were severely reduced to just 34runs all out in 13.3 overs. Medium Pacer Princely Perriera and slow left arm spinner Himanshu Rane demolished the opposition with their razor sharp bowling. Both the boys Prince who took 4/9 in 5 overs(2maidens) and Himanshu who took 4/5 in 3.2overs (1maiden) bowled at really impressive line and length not allowing a single batsman to score runs freely.
National School chased down the score comfortably in 4.5 overs and won the match by 9wkts. Both these boys Princely and Himanshu stood out with their amazing bowling. They are improving day by day in terms of consistency and discipline & they are certainly looking promising for bigger things as they grow up.
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After an intenseful tournament which witnessed some great matches and individual performances, it was the all important finals between Payyade Sports Club and Varraoc Vengsarkar Cricket academy where in Payyade won the toss and elected to field first.
Opting to field first, Payyade successfully restricted VVCA to 171runs in 45 overs. A total of 171 is definitely not the best of the totals to defend and especially in the finals. Kiran More was the lone fighter scoring a valiant 100 off 171deliveries which helped VVCA to escape embarrassment of a low total. Atharva Poojary with 3wkts was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the bowlers also did a commendable job of not allowing the batsman to score runs freely.
Chasing 172, VVCA were off to a flying start with the ball as Payyade were struggling at one point on 3runs for 2wickets down. However, two dependable names and also one of the most promising names in Mumbai cricket, Musheer Khan and Mumbai Skipper Divyansh Saxena stitched a match-changing 169run stand between them to push their team to a thriller of a win. Musheer Khan scored an unbeaten 54* while the in-form Divyansh smashed a stroke-filled 102* taking the game away from the opposition. Payyade won the finals by 8wkts & Divyansh Saxena was awarded ‘Man of the Final’ as well as the ‘Man of the Series’. Atharva Ankolekar got the ‘Best Bowler Award’ for taking 10 wickets. Other Contributors for Winners were also Suved Parkar with 133 runs and Vignesh Solanki with 9 wickets in the tournament.
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Played at the Union Cricket Academy (Wayle Nagar, Kalyan). Two promising teams namely SV Joshi School and Smt. Sulochandevi School took on each other where in SV Joshi won the toss and elected to field first expecting the wicket to support the bowlers and restrict the opposition to a low total.
Singhania School hardly appeared to be bothered after made to bat first as they notched up a very good total of 288/9 in 45overs. After a decent start by the openers, Tejas who came in at no.3 took on the bowlers right from the start as he went on to score an attacking 142 coming of mere 97balls. Tejas who smashed 19fours and 2sixes made his bat do the talking once again as he played some really good cricketing shots with great confidence. The rest of the batsman failed to convert their starts but eventually Tejas’s 142 helped his team reach a very healthy total. Medium pacer Chirag Suvare with 2/29 was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the bowlers also did a fairly decent job.
Made to chase 289 against a strong bowling attack of Singhania which also includes the dependable and in form Aryan, SV Joshi boys were bundled out for mere 57runs in 19overs. Aryan Dalal was once again the pick of the bowlers with 4/24 in 9 overs while off-spinner Anuj Iyer with 3/2 in 4 overs(2maidens) was equally impressive. Singhania School won the match in a dominating fashion on the back of Tejas Chavan’s ton and some good bowling by Aryan and Anuj.
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Two talented teams clashed against each other namely St.Joseph and Gokuldham high school at the ever dependable Shivaji Park where in St.Joseph won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of putting Gokuldham boys under pressure by making a big total.
However, St. Joseph boys were in for a shock when the talented spin duo of Aryan Shetty and Khush Jain attacked together in tandem. Both the off-spinners bamboozled the batsmen with their amazing spin as they took 9wkts in between them. While Aryan came up with mesmerizing bowling figures of 5/11 in 8.1 overs while Khush played the supporting role with perfection as he took 4/23 in 12 overs(4maidens). Both the bowlers looked really promising as St.Joseph were skittled out for mere 90runs in 28.1 overs.
Chasing 91, hitman Roneet Thakkur who is now known for his aggressive batting once again finished of the chase in pure style as he scored a breath-taking 52 off mere 16deliveries(8fours, 3sixes) much to the entertainment of his team mates and the spectators. Gokuldham eventually won the match by 8wkts on the back of these 3 boys-Aryan, Khush and Roneet who stood out with their individual performances.
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Played at their home turf on PJ Hindu Gymkhana at Marine Lines vs the experienced Apollo CC. PJ hindu Gymkhana won the toss and elected to bat first as they have a strong batting line up to make a decent 1st innings total.
Batting first, they did live up to their expectations as they notched up a healthy total of 277/9 which is anyday defendable. Opener Nishad was out for a duck but his opening partner Anup Revandkar went on to score an impressive hundred hardly taking any time. Right handed Anup scored a 105ball 115 (13fours) which included some stately shots which were nothing but pleasing to the eyes. Anup also did good running between the wickets which kept the scoreboard ticking. Apart from him, Sujit Harvi (48) was the 2nd highest scorer falling just 2short of a deserving half century. Fast bowler Prateesh Madhvan was the pick of the bowlers with impressive bowling figures of 4/44 in 8 overs.
Chasing 278 is definitely not a cakewalk even though opener Akshay Pancharia (84 off 99b) and no.4 Sairaj Sangle (81 off 84b) resurrected the innings back with a 137run stand. Salil Agharkar and Pawan Kumar were the pick of the bowler with 2wkts each as they restricted Apollo CC to 269/7 falling short of just 9runs in an equally impressive chase. It was match which remained exciting till the very last over while Anup’s ton played a big role in PJ Hindu Gymkhana’s win.
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Played at the Western Railways Cross Maidan, it was a match between two talented teams namely IPCA and Western Railway Accounts where in Western Railways won the toss and elected to field first with an aim of bundling out the opposition to a low total and chasing It down.
Their decision to field first was spot on as they restricted IPCA to just 191runs where in hardly any batsman managed to convert their starts. The bowler who was responsible for maximum damage was surely spinner Kunal More who came up with excellent bowling figures of 5/31 in 9 overs(2maidens). Kunal kept on bowling in the right areas with consistency and discipline which reaped rewards for him as well as his team.
Chasing a total of 192, Western Railways made it look quite easy as their solid opener Ashish Gharat gave a good start almost completing half of the chase himself with a stroke filled knock of 81 off 78deliveries (12fours ,1six). Ashish counter attacked and wanted to finish the game as early as he could with the support of Amul Patil who also contributed well with a solid 50 off 58balls (5fours). Western Railway Accounts won the match by 6wkts and it was surely Kunal with the ball & Ashish with the bat who stood out in the match.
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Wicket Keeping is the most underrated and difficult art in cricket..it requires excellent hand eye coordination combined with testing degrees of fitness and concentration.. While keeping to spinners he should stay low and rise with the ball..The head should b still at the moment the bowler releases the ball to judge the flight and length of the ball…The stance should b slightly outside the off stump so that he is in the position to clearly watch the ball from the bowler,s wrist in his delivery action as this will allow him immediately to determine the line of the ball and get into position to collect it cleanly.. It is also important to keep watching the ball till the end.
In this video you would see Wicket Keeper Aalap Dasmahapatra practicing Wicket Keeping Under the supervision of coach sumeet khanna.
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Sumeet Khanna is an active cricketer, playing at top divisions in MCA.
He is a MCA Level O certified coach. Apart from coaching at few clubs in western mumbai, he contributes to cricketgraph regularly to help the cricket community at large.
Featured image- Rizvi Team (Winners)
Don Bosco and Rizvi Springfield, the schools which are considered to be the most powerful and strong teams at the school level finally clashed with each other after an intenseful season where both the teams fought hard throughout the tournament to reach the ultimate face off and that is the finale at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Rizvi who have a strong batting line up elected to bat first after winning the toss.
Batting first, Rizvi Springfield started off on a strong note with Owais Khan (47) & Abhinav Singh (85) giving a flying start setting up the positive momentum. Mohit Tanvar who came in at no.3 continued the positive momentum as he went on to score a fantastic ton smashing 127 off 233balls (13fours, 1six). Owais Shaikh at no.5 chipped in with 47 while Tejas Chalke at no.6 came up with a solid 100 off 158deliveries. Coming down the order, tejas kept the scoreboard ticking as he helped his team post a big total. Mohit and Tejas fired at the right time and that too in such a high pressure stage. Delivering perfomance and that too in the finals speaks a lot about the class & temperament of these boys as their elegant batting pushed Rizvi to a big total of 495/8 in 135.2 overs. From Don Bosco, Chris Britto with 3/90 was once again the most impressive of the lot.
Chasing 496, Don Bosco were literally struggling at 7/87 at one stage but Sahil Jadhav at no.4 did not gave up till the very last ball as he scored a hard-fought 150 facing as many as 324deliveries to give his best to save Don Bosco from a defeat. Sahil who smashed 19fours kept on scoring runs at one end while wickets were falling from the other side. Nutan Goyal at down the order also played a crucial hand with his 52. Umar Khan with 4/84 was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the bowlers also did a fairly decent job. Restricting Don Bosco to 395/9 at the end of teh game’s play, Rizvi were eventually crowned the champions while Don Bosco were the runners-up in the tournament while Mohit Tanvar was declared the ‘best batsman’. Sahil Jadhav’s efforts were also equally commendable while bowlers Chris and Umar Khan were impressive with the ball for their respective teams. The final ceremony was conducted under the presence of former Indian Cricketer Yajurvendra Singh amongst other dignitaries as the tournament ended on a successful note.
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Into the 1st knockout round between two really talented teams namely Singhania School & Vani Vidyalaya(kalyan), Singhania won the toss and elected to field first as they have a strong bowling line up including their ever dependable Aryan who always times and again comes up with match winning bowling spells.
Batting first, Vani Vidyalaya School were skittled out for mere 40runs in 12.3 overs with not a single batsman apart from their opener Kshitij even reaching two figures. The bowler who once again terrorized the opposition with his effortless spin bowling was this little genius Aryan Dalal. Aryan came up with unbelievable bowling figures of 7/10 in 6.3 overs and kept on taking crucial wickets at regular intervals. Not only has his line and length being developed really well, he is now bowling with much more discipline and vigor which is quite impressive for his age.
Singhania School in return chased down the score in mere 6.3 overs as they won the match by 7wkts with a thumping win on the back of wonderful bowling by Aryan who has time and again went on to prove that he is amongst the most shining prospects in Mumbai Cricket. Also this his 2nd big 7wkt haul in a span of 2 months, the last time he took a 7wkt haul, it also included a hat-trick vs All Saints School in the Under-14 Ghantali Cup.
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