Budding talents from MP learn the ropes watching their heroes

Chennai, June 2 (UNI) For the young cricketers of Madhya Pradesh it was a dream come true as they watched their heroes Irfan Pathan and S Sreesanth pumping iron in the gym and bowling at the nets in MRF Pace Foundation here today.

The Under-15 cricketers, girls and boys, were at the Pace Foundation as part of a tour organised by the Madhya Pradesh Government Department of Youth Affairs and Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association(MPCA).

Talking to UNI, Madhya Pradesh Under-15 Cricket team Manager Venkataramana said the girls and boys, who are on the tour, were selected as part of a talent hunt programme initiated by the Madhya Pradesh Government Department of Youth Affairs and Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.

''Through the programme we had identified potential players, who can be an asset to the Indian cricket team in future. I think such a programme would help groom young talent,'' he said.

To make the selection procedure more transparent and worthy, he said the selection committee had former cricketer J P Yadav as one of the main selectors.

He said the committee toured the interiors of Madhya Pradesh to hunt for real talent and organised district level matches.

However, he lamented that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had not extended any support for organising such a talent hunt programme.

He said for the next year, they had planned more programmes to groom young talent with the help of Madhya Pradesh government.

Ankit Bohra, a budding pace bowler who is part of this U-15 team said, ''the programme has helped me to develop as a good bowler and gave me an opportunity to get trained under experts.'' For Yohan Masith, the programme provided the right opportunity to come to the mainstream of cricket as he belonged to interior part of Madhya Pradesh.

Appreciating the two youngsters, Mr Venkataramana said the two players' talent had been appreciated by Yadav and they are already in the Under-15 state cricket team.

UNI