Cricket has gone through various changes especially in the last few decades. And who knows better about this than our coaches who have seen and witnessed this change at the grass root level.
We present an exclusive one to one bit with Nagesh Thakur who is a senior cricket coach in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He has given us various insights about how cricket has changed over the years with respect to commercialization, parent- student approach and what role a state administration plays in development of the sport and so on & so forth.
About the Coach:
Nagesh Thakur started playing cricket in the 1960s. He played for Mumbai and Shivaji Park Gymkhana when Ajit Wadekar was the captain and players like Ramakant Desai and Babu Desai were in the team. He has been managing Central Bank of India in the sports division as manager and coach and is also a current secretary of the prestigious Kalpesh Koli Cricket Tournament.
Following are the excerpts from the conversation:
On changes in Cricket in last few decades:
Coaching has reached to a whole new level. Today it includes fitness trainers, psychologists and nutritional values etc. as against earlier times when only cricket basics were being taught.
Coaching has become an equal passion now. Most academies have multiple coaches, each for batting, bowling, fielding and also for different age groups.
Because of T20 and IPL, slam bang cricket has become trendy. As the formats change, the importance of fielding has also increased. Fitness is a key component of training. The whole mind set of the sport has changed with new rules coming in from the international body.
On commercialization of the Sport:
First the 50 over World cup and now the T20 world cup- the following is immense. As a result branding and sponsorships come in and players bag huge sums of money. This has drastically changed the way cricketers think. Professionalism has become a priority.
But it has a downside as well. Focus has shifted from earning money from the sport rather than the sole aim of playing for the nation. There has to be a balance between the two. Otherwise we will lose some really good young cricketers to money.
Parents have also become open to a full time career in sports. They give more liberty to their child to choose a career option. Therefore, the number of players attending the academies and camps have increased over the years.
On the role of Mumbai Cricket Association:
MCA is doing a good job in development of cricket. Apart from providing the usual infrastructure, summer vacation camps Under-14, 16, 19 and 25 are also organized. In about 100 camps, Experts and Coaches of BCCI Level 1, 2 and 3 are appointed to impart proper cricket training. As we are all aware Mumbai is historically the best state team in India, the cricket association is one major reason for that.
On Coaching Style:
At a very young age coaches impart a general training including fitness and basics. As they grow, they get trained by specialized coaches for batting, bowling and fielding so as to get into the intricacies of their respective field.
It becomes the responsibility of the coach to give a proper direction to his student and provide a suitable platform. In this competitive environment, a good coach can really help a student last the distance.
Advice to young cricketers:
“Be sure of what you are doing. Hard work is the key. Don’t move around to different coaches. Stick with one and stay focussed. Jumping from one coach to another will only be a waste of time.”
Kalpesh Koli tournament begins tomorrow. Keep following CricketGraph for the exclusive coverage of this prestigious tournament.
Interview By:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph