From Virat Kohli Gym to Sachin Tendulkar Room, ACA's cricket academy is a hit with players

Anyone who has set foot on the Dr PVG Raju Andhra Cricket Association Sports Complex Ground, Vizianagaram, about 35-minute drive from the Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam has only nice things to say.

Right from the zonal cricket academy (south) U-19 boys to batting ace Cheteshwar Pujara, renowned Ranji Trophy-winning coaches Chandrakant Pandit and Pravin Amre, and chief national selector Sandeep Patil, the academy has come for some high praise.

The facilities on offer are what a cricketer needs to further his skills. They have adequate number of practice pitches – six turf pitches, one astro turf and a cement pitch at the southern end of the ground while they have another set of six nets on the opposite end. So attracting are the facilities that Mumbai Indians reserve players Martin Guptill, Corey Anderson, Jerome Taylor, Shreyas Gopal, Akshay Wakhare and Deepak Punia used them when the IPL defending champions were in Vizag for their home games recently.

The Andhra Cricket Academy ground under covers on a rainy day last week --G Krishnan / dna

The lush green outfield resembles a cushion that prompted India and Mumbai Indians T20 star Hardik Pandya to say: “This is one of the better grounds that I have played across India, the outfield is lush green, soft on knees and back. It is commendably maintained.”

India women’s captain Mithali Raj said that the “lush green outfield creates a positive atmosphere for fielding” after her team played two T20 internationals against Sri Lanka here in January 2014.

The credit for maintaining this ground, which has hosted six Ranji Trophy matches including the quarterfinal between Vidarbha and Saurashtra here in 2015-16, goes to Andhra Cricket Association (ACA). It has been said that ACA is one of those state associations in the country that uses the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s subvention money into the development of infrastructure in the region.

Vice-president of ACA, GJJ Raju told dna: “The ACA has in all 20 grounds, nine of them are owned by the association and 10 given on a long lease are maintained by it. The vision of Mr Ganga Raju, president of ACA and vice-president of BCCI, has been that ACA should own a ground in every district. To him, the facilities should remain forever for cricket. Current national selector MSK Prasad has also had a crucial role to play in the setting up of the academies and grounds of ACA.”

The Vizianagaram academy caters to the Andhra U-19 team while there are separate academies in other districts. An all-exclusive academy for women is being set up in Guntur, which also hosts the senior India women’s camp on a regular basis.

A senior official of ACA said: “The Vizianagaram facility had the U-14, U-16, U-19 academies jointly but then the U-19 trainees started bossing over the juniors. So, we shifted the U-16 academy to Mangalagiri and U-14 to Kadapa.”

So impressive are the facilities that Kent County Cricket Club and ACA have entered into a bilateral agreement for mutual visits, with former West Indies captain and head coach of the county, Jimmy Adams bringing a young side for a 10-day session here early last year. Negotiations are on for a similar arrangement with New South Wales.

Gym named after Kohli

The North block of the academy, named the GV Ramachandra Raju Academy Block houses two air-conditioned dormitories named the ‘Sachin Tendulkar Room’ and ‘Kapil Dev Room’ while the gym is called ‘Virat Kohli’s Gym’.

Virat Kohli's Gym at the north block --G Krishnan / dna

The ACA academy trainees, about 40 of them, have also been provided free education at the Raghu Engineering College, which is not far from the academy. They are also provided a recreational-cum-study room.

The ACA academy is run by five former Ranji Trophy players with CD Thomson, former Services captain, as the head coach and GJJ Raju as the chairman.

Virat Kohli's Gym at the north block --G Krishnan / dna

The Vizianagaram academy was the chosen venue for the month-long National Cricket Academy’s Zonal Cricket Academy U-19 camp that concluded on May 21. Twenty five U-19 trainees from all the southern states have been undergoing training under Sunil Joshi (spin), J Arun Kumar (batting), Mansur Ali Khan (bowling) and Vinod Damaskar (wicket-keeping and fielding). The camp ended with the selection of 15 players to represent the zone in the NCA inter-zonal tournament to be held in Shimoga in Karnataka, next week.

Joshi, former India left-arm spinner and one of the top wicket-takers in domestic cricket, said: “This is a great facility. For someone willing to work hard, this is the right place where he can save his commuting time. Everything a cricketer requires is at one place.” Joshi, who has been a regular at the NCA in Bengaluru, was impressed with the facilities on his first visit there.

One of the reasons that Andhra Cricket Association is being noticed for its progress is the facilities all over the districts. Visakhapatnam’s YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium curator K Nagamallaiah has himself prepared the grounds of all the grounds of the association. It is learnt that every ground of ACA is good enough to host a first-class match. And, an international stadium is in the making at Mangalagiri with “more than 50 per cent work completed”.

The academy at Vizianagaram will have a swimming pool and access road to the centre in the next couple of months and “it will be a complete centre”.

1. The NCA Zonal Cricket Academy (south) U-19 trainees exchange notes at Andhra Cricket Association's academy premises in Vizianagaram recently --G Krishnan / dna

Andhra Cricket Association is certainly becoming a major force to reckon with in the domestic scene. It is now up to the players to make the most of them and produce more MSK Prasads, though it has been the home of former India national captains CK Nayudu and Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram.

NOTABLE ENTRIES IN GUEST REGISTER:

CHETESHWAR PUJARA: Wonderful ground and beautiful outfield. Enjoyed playing here. It was a true wicket. Good practice facilities as well. Thank you very much for hosting us.

JIMMY ADAMS: Impressed with the facilities.

ROGER BINNY: A wonderful facility for Andhra cricket. Great atmosphere and ideal for young cricketers to develop their skills.

MITHALI RAJ: I thoroughly enjoyed batting on this pure batting paradise wicket. Wish to have more games conducted and added to the wicket, lush green outfield creates a positive atmosphere for fielding. (Jan 26, 2014)

HARDIK PANDYA: This is one of the better grounds that I have played across India, the outfield is lush green, soft on knees and back. It is commendably maintained, the covers and ground staff are in the top bracket. The practice wickets are hard and bouncy and the run-up there too is well maintained. Went to the gym too and it caters for all our needs.

ROBIN SINGH: Most amazing place.

WV RAMAN: Excellent ground and outstanding arrangements by ACA. Well done and wish ACA all the very best in the future.

ACA’S OWN GROUNDS:

Vizianagaram – 1 academy + 1 ground
Srikakulam – land has been identified. “It is as good as purchased,” according to ACA vice-president GJJ Raju
Visakhapatnam – 1 ground
West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Chittoor, Nellore, Kurnool – 1 each

GROUNDS GIVEN ON LONG LEASE AND MAINTAINED BY ACA

Vizianagaram, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Nellore, Kadapa, Anantapur