Jayesh Kulkarni- From helping Ajinkya Rahane bag a Contract in County to helping cricketers grow in Mumbai
Jayesh Kulkarni (Right) with Ajinkya Rahane
From a budding coach who has helped young cricketers accelerate in their game to assisting players in their careers to find the right team. Jayesh Kulkarni has been one coach with numerous caps to his name.
For the uninitiated, Jayesh Kulkarni is an MCA Level O and Kites Level II (Under National Skill Development Corporation) certified cricket coach training young players since almost a decade. The Kites Level 2 Course he had learned under the aegis of John Gloster (Former Trainer with India Cricket Team & currently with Rajasthan Royals) & Dinesh Nanavati (National Cricket Academy) where many of the great coaches of Mumbai as well as of India have trained under him. Jayesh has also trained under various coaches including Dr.Sanjay Bharadwaj sir (Level 3 BCCI, NIS & Phd) Vidhyadhar Paradkar sir who he believes have helped him a lot in the recent years in increasing his skills. Jayesh is also the Assistant head coach at Sri Ma Gurukul Cricket Academy & Euro School Thane. Jayesh is also the Assistant Head Coach at the Rajawadi Cricket Academy. Jayesh has also received training multiple times under the legendary Amol Muzumdar this year and he feels lucky that
Amol Muzumdar sir in his free time imparts training without even charging a penny in his academy. Fitness Coach Ajit Kulkarni who is associated with Adidas has trained Prithvi Shaw and many top level athletes at the National level also trains the students at the Rajawadi Cricket Club. Ajit’s inputs on fitness and prevention from injuries has helped the kids in the academy a lot.
Speaking with Cricketgraph-Jayesh said the MCA registered Rajawadi Cricket Club has great history, Apart from Tendulkar since 1990, many players from Mumbai or Maharashtra who have represented Indian or Ranji team has represented Rajawadi cricket team at some or the other stage and that is a matter of pride for us.
When asked which tournaments his academy has won so far-Jayesh explained the whole system to us.
We have won Thosar Shield in 2018 and we were runners up in 2017. We were the runners up in Mahim Dadar Challenge Shield’17 representing Baronet CC and while representing Prabhu Jolly Young Cricketers we got promoted from E to F Division in Kanga league. We won kanga knockout twice is last ten years but got relegated from Kanga League because we believe in building the players and the team rather than hiring professional players & a temporary team. With that approach we have progressed so far but could’nt survive in the Kanga Div G. The reason we were not able to survive in Kanga is we don’t pressurize our players or restrict them to the same club, at the same time we don’t hire professional players to represent our team, rather we allow our students to play for our team. We promote and allow them to play for bigger clubs and higher divisions because for him and the academy- a player’s cricket career holds more importance than building his academy’s team”
We scout players across schools and colleges, then we train them making it an activity which is a part of our Rajawadi Cricket Academy.
Some of the recent examples he shared-
“This year we promoted our student Aditya Kolhatkar, he is getting trained under Amol Muzumdar! Amol sir saw him in the nets practicing during the afternoon time when it was too hot and he got immediately impressed by his dedication levels and his bowling skills. Amol Muzumdar then insisted coach Amit Dani to look after him after which Mr. Dani called the kid to Parel Sporting Nets at MIG, then he eventually took Aditya in the Parel Sporting Club team which is right now the top Div team in the Kanga League”
“Even the recent example of say Pradnya Bhagat, Jayesh took the 11yr old Girl at the TMGA Camp in DY Patil in its 1st edition and Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar got so impressed by her, that Sachin Tendulkar himself quoted that this girl is the future of Indian Cricket team”
“Ritesh Patil is another player who has been doing good. For the betterment of their future we allow them to go and play for higher divisions. That is why we are not able to win the big tournamets as we are promoting our players to play for higher divisions and clubs rather than taking our team further.
What’s more, his activities are not just limited to coaching, he has always been a helping hand when it comes to helping players find the right team. Recently, he helped his childhood friend and India’s batting star Ajinkya Rahane bag a contract in Hampshire.
When asked more about it, he shared, Ajinkya was not able to get the contract done, last year also efforts were on for a county stint but because of his schedule, it was getting difficult but this year I am thankful to almighty we recieved fruitful outcome of our efforts on assisting Ajinkya Rahane to bag a Hampshire contract.
Apart from that, Jayesh was also associated with Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy in its 1st edition and at present actively associated with Middlesex County Cricket Club. Apart from that too, he has good networking skills in the cricketing ecosystem which often comes in handy.
Another feather in the cap is his recent association with the Thane Eagle Strikers which is one of the teams this year in T20 Mumbai’19.
When asked about his future goals- My aim is to definitely help more and more cricketers grow in their careers with the help of my coaching skills and networking I possess, to help them find more and more opportunities & help them find the right teams. Jayesh also said I will try to grasp more knowledge & coaching skills as much as I can.
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