MUMBAI: Padma Shri Gautam Gambhir and Funngage.com gave a warm send-off to 15 of the 33 talented aspiring cricketers who have qualified for the 5-year cricket scholarship and are selected to go to Guildford Grammar School, Perth, Australia for 21 days of overseas training. Earlier in August’18, Funngage.com in the inspiring leadership of Gautam Gambhir launched FG PowerPlayer – India’s First Cricket Scholarship. While in Perth, the cricketers will train under the watchful guidance of former South African Test Cricketer, HD Ackerman who is now engaged as the Director of Coaching at Guildford Grammar.
All these 33 PowerPlayers have been awarded 5-year Cricket Development Scholarship which includes the following:
Benefits of FG PowerPlayer Cricket Development Scholarship
·5 years of fully paid cricket equipments
·5 years of fully paid medical support along with sports physiotherapy sessions at Funngage’s wellness partner and hospitals across India
·5 years of fully paid match fees for cricket matches and tournaments across India
·5 years of fully paid cricket camps by experts for continued exposure and training
·Fully paid for oversees training (for topmost 15) at Perth, Australia (Guildford Grammar School), this includes visa fee, return air fare, accommodation, trainings, nutrition sessions, injury management, and matches with local clubs etc.
Trials and selection process
A scientific process of assessing the cricketers started in October last year with the video-based trials held in 17 cities in 10 states across India. The program attracted both girls and boys and 5000+ aspiring cricketers participated in 12 to 24 years of age categories. The trials were held at the center wicket of the ground with at least 5 High Definition (HD) cameras making ball-by-ball videos of each and every cricketer. These videos were shared with players on their Funngage.com account.
These videos were then shared with the panel of top coaches of Funngage.com for a thorough assessment. The detailed report card and assessment scores highlighting their strengths and areas of improvements were given to each player. The program progressed as under:
·Stage 1 – Basic Skills Trial: 12-balls trials on the center wicket with each batsman facing 4 bowlers and each bowler bowling to 4 batsmen and 5 HD Video cameras capturing the action
·Stage 2 – Advanced Trial: each player got to bowl or bat 4 overs on a turf wicket
·Stage 3 – Residential Camp: 14 days of training camp wherein each player got coaching, training, and got to play minimum of 5 matches of 40 overs each
·Stage 4 – 5 Years of Cricket Scholarship: 33 aspiring cricketers selected for 5 years of Cricket Development Scholarship and topmost 15 were chosen to for 3 weeks of oversees training at Guildford Grammar School, Perth, Australia in four batches
*Overall Funngage.com is committed to selected 120 aspiring cricketers across the age groups and to send 60 to Australia for oversees training
Highlights of Residential Camp
110 (Age group 17 – 24) out of 5000+ applicants were invited for a residential camp at Funngage’s Meerut Centre, Neelkanth Group of Institutes (NGI). Under the able guidance of Senior Coach Arun Bharadhwaj along with Jayaraj Samual, Biju Nair, Sanjay Bharadhwaj, and Manu Kumar, the players were put through a rigorous schedule of training, coaching, fitness, and matches.
·Players were divided into 8 teams
·All eight teams played seven matches in a round-robin format with each player playing a minimum of 5 matches of 40 overs each.
·Matches were played at three cricket grounds in Meerut – NGI Cricket Ground, Victoria Park Cricket Ground, and Gandhi Bagh Cricket ground
·Matches went on for 13 days that included three matches every day
·The best players were awarded as the Man of Match and inducted into the FG PowerPlayer Hall of Fame
·Umpires from UPCA were engaged for transparent and credible decision-making
·Players were constantly assessed on the basis of their potential and performance and their stats were updated real-time Funngage’s website and mobile apps
Marquee experts during the assessment process
·HD Ackerman, former South African Test Cricketer and Director of Coaching at GGS
·Samuel Jayraj (KL Rahul’s coach)
·K. Barathan (Former BCCI Umpire and Ranji Player)
·Biju Nair (BCCI Level C and Ranji Coach)
·Dinesh Lad (Rahit Sharma and Shardul Thakur’s Coach)
·Sanjay Bharadhwaj (Gautam Gambhir’s Coach)
·Yajuvendra Krishnatry (indian Railways Coach)
Quotes:
Gautam Gambhir, inspirational partner of Funngage.com said, “I always wanted to give back to the game which has given meaning to my life. With FG Powerplayer I am living my dream of helping young, budding cricketers in exceling at their game. Perth is a wonderful city to train at, and once these 15 cricketers come back, they will have a different outlook towards the game.”
Kavendra Karan Singh, Founder, Funngage.com said, “We started this initiative six months back and now the first batch of 33 PowerPlayers have been announced, 15 of these boys are going to Perth for oversees training and we have a solid plan for the selected lot to develop into better cricketers. We are committed in our endeavor of providing a platform to these cricketers and with Gautam, we have understood the nuances of the needs of young cricketers. Hopefully many more will participate in the coming years.”
