Sriram, Badrinath, Karthik launch cricket academy

Former India cricketer Sridharan Sriram along with India players S Badrinath and Dinesh  Karthik have started Cricket Drome — a cricket academy catering to professionals and cricket lovers.

Sriram, who is a qualified coach, will be director of coaching at the facility, while Badri and  Dinesh will be the chief patrons and lend all the support. The facility situated at Okkiyampettai on OMR was inaugurated by Kasi Viswanathan, secretary of the TNCA. K Srikkanth and L Balaji too were present at the launch to lend support for the cricketers.

The academy consists of 10 wickets, including five turf ones. Players will have access to two of the latest bowling machines — The Iron Mike and Yantra. The floodlit cricketing facility will offer  matting wickets to amateur and corporate clubs as well.

Former Indian bowler Tinu Yohannan will impart lessons in the art of bowling. Sriram said that the academy intends to cater to the needs of an average cricket buff, with special focus on grassroots-level coaching.

“We wanted to create a project that would help produce good cricketers without taking the fun and enjoyment out of the game. We have 10 wickets (turf, matting and concrete) of varied nature and two of the best bowling machines in the world,” said Sriram.

Shankar Basu of Primal Patterns will be offering physical training facilities at the academy. Badrinath said this venture gave him an opportunity to give something back to the game.

Indrajith CENTURY BOOSTS TN U-19

B Indrajith’s 179 (417b, 16x4, 1x6) helped Tamil Nadu U-19 to 370 in the Elite Group C match against Bengal U-19 on the second day in the Cooch Behar cricket tournament at Murugappa grounds on Sunday. In reply, Bengal were 38-0 at stumps.

Brief scores: TN U-19 370 (J Kaushik 62, B Indrajith 179, AP Singh 4/61, Amit Gani 3/112) Vs Bengal U-19 38-0.