New Delhi: Under Rahul Dravid’s stewardship, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) has revamped the coaching manual, which now comprises ‘corporate classes’ for aspiring coaches tackling off-field issues, including selection pressure from various quarters.
Recently, a batch of distinguished former first-class cricketers attended the BCCI’s Level-2 coaching course and also appeared for the theory and practical examinations.
The module has been tweaked to make it more appealing for modern coaches. However, what came as a pleasant surprise was the introduction of a ‘corporate problem solving class’. In it the incumbents were asked to find methods of trouble-shooting while dealing with multiple off-the-field stakeholders.
“The course has been devised by former Mumbai seamer Kshemal (Waingankar), who is an MBA and has a corporate background. I have never attended a class like this but it was very unique and helped me broaden my horizon,” a distinguished first-class cricketer, who attended the course, told this agency on the condition of anonymity.
So what is this corporate class all about? “Well, it was about making us understand the difference between ‘bargaining’ and ‘negotiation’. We were told that we don’t need to solve a problem but it needs to be checked what are the trouble-shooting methods that we deploy (approach) in a critical situation,” the person said.
While the Level-2 course is complete, all the aspirants now go back to their respective cities and, in the next three months, will have to at least work with one player and prepare a project report.
“All of us will have to pick a player and make a complete video analysis of his bowling or batting depending upon our area of expertise. Then we prepare a project report on what specifics we are working on. After we have worked on corrective measures, we will have to again prepare a video of changes we have done. Then only our Level-2 course will be complete,” said another player.
What has amazed a lot of these players is the fact NCA head Dravid doesn’t take classes. However, he always makes it a point to sit with the batches and attend the lectures, given by the likes of Sujith Somasundar, Apurv Desai, Rajib Datta and Waingankar.
“In fact when we were shown videos of players and asked to offer solutions, even Rahul bhai would join us and try to figure out the problem. He would tell us that he still feels like a student and the day he stops learning, that will be the end of it,” another first-class player, who has played against Dravid, said.
“We were taught the difference between bargaining and negotiation’. We were asked to identify an issue and solve it before it turns into a problem”, Coaching aspirant
PTI
