Keshav Pathak /Pokhara.
Pokhara is not only a touristic place but also known as the city of adventurous sports all over the world. Besides this, Pokhara has recently become quite popular for Cricket too. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has also recognized Pokhara Cricket Stadium as one of the most scenic venues for cricket. The mountain range that can be viewed from the stadium undoubtedly attracts all the players and spectators.
Recently, Pokhara has become a fertile ground for cricket. After the commencement of professional cricket tournaments like Pokhara Premier League (PPL) in Pokhara, the attraction towards cricket among the youth has started increasing. Kaski District Cricket Association (KDCA) is going to move forward by embracing the growing craze of the youth towards cricket.
The main purpose of this model is to provide employment opportunities to the retired players and transfer their knowledge to the youth. ,” says Chairman Sigdel, “this is probably the first time ever we are going to implement this model in Nepal.” “Hope this model will support cricket to develop in professional way”,
KDCA is going to operate an academy in Pokhara to involve youngsters to develop cricket from the grass root level to senior level. “The association has materialized rules and regulations to move forward with a working procedure for the Cricket Academy”, says KDCA’s Chairman Sanjay Kant Sigdel. He further added that it is a ‘dream project’ of KDCA which is going to implement very soon.
In 2058 BS, Jagat Tamata, the coach of the Nepali National Team started training in Kaski when he was as an assistant coach. However, this is the first time the academy is going to be run in Pokhara in systematic way. “The main purpose of this model is to provide employment opportunities to the retired players and transfer their knowledge to the youth”, says Chairman Sigdel, “this is probably the first time ever we are going to implement this model in Nepal.” “Hope this model will support cricket to develop in professional way”, he added.
Chairman Sigdel says that the main concept of the working method is to make the district level senior players participate in the academy. With the help of the coach, the players will be categorized on the basis of their performance and facilities will be provided in the academy according to the category.
“The academy was named ‘Central Cricket Academy Kaski’ a year ago, but it was not in operation”, says Chairman Sigdel “Of course, we had prepared this procedure a year ago, but we are implementing it from September 1, 2020,” he said. He mentioned that there are challenges to run the academy, but if they do not move forward it in a systematic way in the future, Kaski’s cricket will fall behind.
Kaski District Cricket Association’s treasurer Chandra Gurung ‘Jimmy’ explained that the plan is to grow the income from the cricket academy for the development of cricket. He said, “Those who come to the academy will not only take formal knowledge of cricket but they can learn more about cricket in a practical and professional way,”
In the procedure, Kaski cricket classified the teams into four categories, and the players in each category will be trained separately on the basis of performance. The process has been decided to categorize the players in A, B, C category and all other players in ‘D’ category respectively to make them a place in the district level senior (women and men) team.
The Kaski District Cricket Association will take the main responsibility of running the academy and will appoint a manager and a coach. Chairman Sigdel says that the main concept of the working method is to make the district level senior players participate in the academy. With the help of the coach, the players will be categorized on the basis of their performance and facilities will be provided in the academy according to the category. Records of all the players will also be kept and envisaged with scholarship facility for the best players.
The association has put forward four former national players as coaches in the academy namely Rijon Praju, Dipesh Khatri, Govinda Pradhan and Vidhan Shrestha.
Though the Pokhara Stadium cricket ground has become the main attraction for the players, the Gandaki Province Government has also allocated NRs. 20 million for the DPR to construct international ground at Pashupatighat in Pokhara-33. It is also believed that Pokhara will be developed as a major center of cricket in the future.
Photo: Sudarshan Ranjit
