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Abhinav joins cricket academy

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As a young kid, around age of 7 yrs, I used to attend a cricket coaching camp with the Saurashtra Ranji cricketers.  it was split in to 2 sessions - morning and evening.

The morning sessions consisted of exercises, sprints, duck walks, frog jumps and some tennis ball practice.  It was strenuous but a lot of fun.  being 7, I seemed to have a lot of energy and loved to participate in this regimen with people who played at the highest domestic level and I used to be in awe of them.

In the evening session, we practiced with the leather ball.  Before that, however, we used to master our defensive shots (forward and back foot) with the hanging ball.  The whole point of this article to is to describe all the emotions that I felt when Abhinav started practicing his defense with the hanging ball.   I think the teachers are not as strict nowadays as before and kids have an option to explore things a bit more.  The regimen is not as strenuous and the emphasis is on having fun while playing cricket.  This is one thing that has changed from when I joined the camp.

Another interesting part is to see him all decked up with pads, gloves, helmet, elbow pad, thigh pad and the likes.  He can barely walk, let alone run but he absolutely loves it and I can just see it in his eyes when Saturday/Sunday roll around.  I just hope that twinkle lasts for more than a few months :-)  For now, I am enjoying seeing him enjoying the sport so much along with the game of football that he seemed to have developed a love for after playing with his cousins Harshil and Daivik.


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manishkamdar said…
I never knew cricket camps were so demanding... I always thought they made you run around and then do catch practice but looks like there is a lot more to it. Good to see this update. Hoping to see more from you....
2:14 AM
Pranav said…
Oh yes, camps used to be quite demanding. I guess the exercises have been toned down a bit. I remember that the person who came last in a frog jump sprint would have to do it all over again through the length of the cricket field.
2:47 AM
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