EXCLUSIVE
To make significant investment in technology
Nearly two decades after the launch of his cricket academy in Chennai, one that is restricted to students aged below 17years, VB Chandrasekar (VBC) -http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html - who has been widely acknowledged as one of the best captains the city has seen, is making a foray into one on one personalised coaching for cricketers.
It was VBC who identified and picked the core team at CSK in the initial years. It speaks of his astute cricketing acumen and ability to spot talent that CSK has been the only team in the 8 years to have held on to the core group of players and this was instrumental in CSK having the best track record for any team in the IPL, despite him not being part of the set up after the initial phase.
It is one of those flood light sessions in April at his academy ( His is the only one of its kind flood lit private outdoor cricket coaching academies in the city). His phone is ringing non-stop and it’s from home. It is already quite late, well past 930pm. But VBC is passionately involved with a couple of his young leg spinners. He is frustrated that a leggie with good potential is too fast in his final two paces to the bowling crease.
Another leg spinner is bowling too fast for his liking. The speed gauge measures 75kmph and VBC is not happy. He asks all the bowlers to stop. And he wants the leggie to slow down his pace. A minute later, he is delighted at the result. The ball is lot slower- 64 kmph – the ball stays in the air, dips and turns past the batsman. He gives the young boy a big shout ‘Did you see that. You are not working hard enough on your skills’. The boy nods in acknowledgement and says he will follow!!!
An hour earlier, at the farther end of the nets, he was taking a close look at the defensive technique of boys aged 10 years. And as the kid played a dead bat to a ball pitching on the leg stump, VBC picked up the bat from the young boy and showed him the technique of locking the wrist at the last moment to get the ball to square leg for a single instead of playing a dead ball on the pitch.
He made a big positive impact to many youngsters in the late 80s and through the 90s in league cricket here, a number of whom progressed into Ranji cricket. He was known to get the best in the players who ‘followed’ his instructions and directions.
His academy now runs in three different locations in the city, prompting Dr. Natarajan to call it last week as the Saravana Bhavan of cricket academies.
The one on one coaching will be extended to players of all age groups including first division and Ranji cricketers. This exclusive programme is expected to include video analysis, monitoring and analysing strengths and weaknesses and personalised mentoring. VBC is making significant investment on this front including on modern technology. This is set to kick in June –July this year.
On Monday this week, Muttiah Muralidharan who launched the flood light facility at his academy at Guru Nanak College was all praise for VB Chandrasekar repeatedly addressing him as VB Sir and referring to him as an outstanding talent spotter.
On Monday this week, Muttiah Muralidharan who launched the flood light facility at his academy at Guru Nanak College was all praise for VB Chandrasekar repeatedly addressing him as VB Sir and referring to him as an outstanding talent spotter.
Last August, VBC’s Ranji Trophy winning captain S Vasudevan had told prtraveller of his plans to launch a TIP (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2015/08/former-ranji-trophy-captain-to-launch.html). There have also been a few former Ranji/India cricketers who have over the last couple of years launched such one on one offerings but the general feedback is that they have not been physically present on most days leaving the wards frustrated.
While VBC has all the credentials of being an excellent mentor for both upcoming players and those going through challenges in their careers at the higher levels of the game with his superior technical skills and the inherant ability to spot strengths and weakness, one has to wait and watch over the next couple of years as to how he fares on this front having had mixed fortunes in his many different avatars over the long 3 decades old cricket career.