The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) had an apex council meeting earlier this month to discuss several issues, including a potential revamp of the Mangalagiri Stadium that needed to be addressed. In the same meeting, the Andhra Cricket Association also finalized on setting up a women’s academy in Anantapur.
Association President Kesineni Sivanath shed light on their plan to develop cricket at the grassroots level in the state, sharing, “We aim to establish grounds in rural areas where there are no sports facilities. Talented athletes will be identified and trained in these academies. Most of the cricket players trained in these academies will be selected from AP for the IPL and the Indian cricket team.”
In a step towards the development of the women’s sport, the Andhra Cricket Association has roped in the former Indian skipper Mithali Raj as a mentor of Women’s Cricket operations of Andhra Cricket Association on a three-year contract. She would be responsible for developing a pool of players via scouting and then eventually grooming a group of youngsters from across the state.
“We are setting up a full-fledged High-Performance Academy at Anantapur for women cricketers where initially we will be picking 80 girls from different age groups and will be given 365 days training combining academics,” the ACA Secretary, S Satish Babu, spoke about providing top-quality training facilities to young girls alongside their academic activities.
One of the things that would be topping the list on Mithali Raj’s agenda, donning the hat of a mentor would be to organize as many matches as possible, especially for the under-15 age group to foster their development as an athlete.
Mithali Raj made her international debut on 26th June 1999 in an ODI against Ireland and announced her retirement from international cricket on 8th June 2022. She retired as the leading run-scorer (7,805 runs) at a sensational average of 50.68 in the ODI format. Her tally of runs includes 64 half-centuries and 7 centuries in the format and she has also picked up 8 wickets with the ball in the ODI format.
She made her debut in the red-ball format on 14th January 2002 against England. She tallied 699 runs at an impressive average of 43.68 in 19 innings. Her tally of runs includes 4 half-centuries and a double-century. In the T20I format, she made her debut on 5th August 2006 against England and accumulated 2364 runs from 84 outings, at an average of 37.52.
The decorated Indian cricketer is also involved in India’s premier domestic T20 competition for the women, the Women’s Premier League, as a mentor with the Gujarat Giants since the inaugural edition in 2023.
(Quotes sourced from Deccan Chronicle and Sportstar)
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