CRICKET ACADEMY

Yesteryears cricket sensation Suresh Raina has shown exemplary sportsmanship by offering to coach budding cricketers in Jammu and Kashmir. After his adieu to willow and the ball, the legendary sports person is going to set up five schools each in the Valley and Jammu to train aspiring cricketers, especially the youngsters from the remote areas, who lack facilities to showcase their talent. They have little exposure to catch the imagination of selectors of various tourneys to get professional training and find space in teams to play in Ranji and other competitions. Raina has met the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Director General Police Dilbag Singh and expressed his intent to help J&K youth by channelising their energies in proper pursuits. Raina had earlier also stressed that cricket is a process which could shape and mould a group of individuals with professional ethics. This he feels will make youth fit and optimistic about things, This will help them grow physically and mentally both in the given scenario that Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing over decades. This, of course, will demand dash and drive among the budding sportspersons who will be availing the facilities. He has unfolded his vision and now it is for the administration to pick up the thread and take the proposal to its logical conclusion. They should not create obstacles in such endeavours as had been done with the proposal of film studios mooted by famous cine stars of yesteryears, who were mesmerised by the natural locale of Kashmir and wanted this to be promoted and harnessed in industrious manner. That time some intellectuals sabotaged the entire roadmap as each one of them wanted to have a monopoly on anything like a film studio coming up in Jammu and Kashmir. Vested interests should not, therefore, be allowed to play spoilsport in Suresh Raina’s endeavour as well. Time and again it has been seen that whenever sincere efforts were made to do something good, the self-styled experts attempted to make inroads to carve out a place for themselves. This trend is overwhelming in Jammu and Kashmir. The self-styled conscience keepers remain always at door steps to have their pound of flesh. Guard against such elements would be a watchword.