BCCI to Nurture Cricketing Talent in North-East

Shillong: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will organise eight-day coaching camp from May 17 to hone the cricketing skills of the players from North-East.

Five players each from Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Nagaland, who had participated in the last under 16 and 19 tournaments of BCCI, have been selected to undergo the training to be conducted by the National Cricket Academy.

"A physio, a trainer, and a video analyst will be present during the camp to know the strengths and weaknesses of the players," Meghalaya Cricket Association general secretary Naba Bhattacharjee told reporters.

"Video analyst has an important role in the game. You can record the entire proceedings when a player is playing and later find out their shortcomings," he said.

Nobody from the region has donned India colours in any version of the game till date.

Senior coaches Sanat Kumar, Apurva Desai, Rajiv Dutta and T Dilip - all from National Cricket Academy - would train the boys, Bhattacharjee said.

More players, picked in batches, will be roped in from across the region to undergo the training in similar coaching camps in future, he said.

Bhattacharjee said the Meghalaya Cricket Association is on the lookout for a ground after the BCCI's offer to build a cricket stadium in Shillong with all modern facilities.

"After granting its affiliation to the various cricket associations in region, BCCI had categorically stated that if the government can come forward or the MCA can get a relatively flat ground of 18 to 20 acres, the BCCI is ready to invest Rs 40 to 50 crore and build a stadium," he said.

The MCA has proposed some sites to the state government and its awaiting response.

"Once the site is identified, work would commence within three months," Bhattacharjee said.