Ludhiana, December 18
Cricket coach Desh Prem Azad feels the players should be given adequate time to relax if we want to see them perform to the best of their ability.
During a visit to Ludhiana, Azad said, “I have groomed some of the renowned strikers and pacers of the country like Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, T. Kumaran, Yograj Singh and Ashok Malhotra, whose secret of outstanding performance was the necessary rest after hectic practice schedules.”
While talking about the performance of Indian team, he lamented, “How can we expect excellent performance from the players who are always taken for granted. After the tour of South Africa, Indian cricket team is playing another series on home ground without any break. Like others, players also deserve to spend some time with members of their families, who sometimes have to wait for months to see their dear ones.” Azad opined that the Board of Control for Cricket in India must ensure that cricketers got adequate time to prepare themselves, mentally and physically, to perform to the best of their abilities.
While commenting about the poor performance of the Indian cricket team abroad, Azad said, “People generally say that Indians are tigers at home and paper tigers abroad. Our players are not good at playing on hard wicket as home wickets, where they practise, are not of that kind. If we really want to improve our performance in the tournaments organised abroad, we will have to prepare that kind of wickets at home so that players get used to playing on such hard and bouncy wickets.”
In the recently concluded match at Mohali, Azad gave full marks to Daljit Singh, who prepared a record-supporting wicket which had something for the batsmen, pace bowlers and spinners.
He said, “A number of tournaments are organised in our country for all age groups. The purpose of these tournaments is to groom players so that we can get the best ones to make the nation proud in international tournaments.” He, however, lamented, “But the whole purpose of these tournaments gets defeated when players of higher age group play in the lower age group championships to clinch the titles at any cost.” He opined, “These manipulation does not help these player as when they play in their own age group, they stand nowhere and the ultimate goal of achieving excellence in the game remains a dream”.
Azad played many matches during his college days in the city at Daresi Ground and Government College for Boys. While recalling, Azad said, “The Manchester of India has produced many cricketers who performed well in the international and national level tournaments. Yash Pal Sharma is one of those stars whom I can not forget.” Azad was of the view, “Youngsters of Ludhiana have a lot of potential. A cricket stadium in the city is the need of the hour as this city has the potential to emerge as one of the best nurseries of cricket in India.”
