With an aim to nurture young talents and develop them into finest cricketers, the Dilip Vengsarkar Foundation (DVF) along with Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) will be starting an academy in New Panvel. The academy is likely to be ready by March 31, 2024 and would be fully operational by the next cricketing season that starts from October.
“I have a farmhouse in Panvel and have been visiting the city for the past 25 years now. I have been witnessing lot of cricket matches which the local lads play, although with tennis ball. After witnessing their talent, I wondered if I could start my own academy here so that the youngsters staying in and around Panvel would be benefitted. The local civic body (PMC) gave me full support in realising this dream of mine,” said the legendary batsman and former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar.
Explaining in details about the academy, Vengsarkar, member of the illustrious 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team, said, “Our motto is catch them young. We will be forming a group of 20-22 players in different age categories such as Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18. To be selected on merit, the players would be given proper training by five coaches absolutely free of cost. The children just need to carry their passion and confidence with them besides a promise of hard work and we will help them make good cricketers,” Vengsarkar, also the former chairman of BCCI Senior Selection Committee, said.
"We will be holding intra-academy matches" - Dilip Vengsarkar
When asked if he would be monitoring the training and development personally, the legendary batsman nicknamed ‘Colonel’ replied in the affirmative and said that he would be visiting the academy every week and would personally monitor the progress of each and every trainee. “The coaching provided will be very professional. The pitches are being developed under the watchful eyes of Nadeem Memon, the expert curator who has developed the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium.”
“Besides coaches, I would also be very happy in extending some tips to the youngsters so that they learn the technical nuances of the game and prosper. We will be holding intra-academy matches and participate in various tournaments so that the children get the much-needed match practice. You never know, we might have next Sunil, Kapil, Sachin, Rahul, Virat or Rohit from this part of the world,” Vengsarkar added.
PMC to shell out 10 crore for the academy's development:
Stating that the Dilip Vengsarkar Academy would be training 100 students every year, a senior PMC official said on condition of anonymity, “The trainees to be selected would include 50 from PMC limits, 25 from Raigad district and 25 from other parts of the state. The academy would be coming up at an open ground near Adai circle in New Panvel and would be providing technical guidance to the young cricketers who are willing to make it big at the national and international level.”
“While initial development of the academy, such as ground, pitches and other infrastructure would be provided by the PMC, the responsibility of training the kids apart from operation and maintenance of the academy would lie on Dilip Vengsarkar Foundation. PMC would be spending a sum of nearly Rs 10 crore for development of the academy and would oversee the daily management of the academy along with Foundation,” the official added.
Recently, Dilip Vengsarkar himself reviewed the development of the academy along with PMC officials and expressed satisfaction with the progress.
