Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals, in partnership with the Assam Cricket Association (ACA), launched a state cricket academy in Guwahati on February 16.
The academy, which is based at Guwahati’s Barsapara stadium, will cater to young cricketers – both men and women – across Assam and other Northeast states. The Royals, through this academy, will also help develop an elite group of Assam cricketers through a complete training and education programme including both on and off the pitch essentials, ensuring their all-round development.
The academy will also see knowledge and training imparted by the RR expert coaching team to the coaches of the ACA to aid them in improving the overall value chain of coaching.
Executive chairman at Rajasthan Royals Ranjit Barthakur said: “Development has always been the essence of the Rajasthan Royals’ cricketing operations and this partnership with the ACA is yet another step in the right direction.”
“After having successfully running youth programmes in Jaipur, setting up academies across the country was always on the cards for us. I’m delighted to start our northeast journey by setting up this academy in Guwahati. With our partnership with ACA, we aim to keep the whole of the northeast in mind, wherein we aim to bring in around 1000 cricketers through the system, who will be capable of playing at the highest level with inputs from the RR team.”
The Rajasthan Royals, through this partnership, will create a detailed plan and layout of the academy functioning – providing quality control and support for the players and the coaching staff. The academy will be the nucleus for cricket development in the entire northeast.
The top elite players will also have the opportunity to be part of the Rajasthan Royals trials ahead of the next auction. The ACA will be in charge of the day-to-day operations including the management of the resources. The ACA will also build the infrastructure for the academy which will include the ground and the other requisite facilities.
ACA secretary Devajit Saikia said: “ACA-RR tie-up is going to boost our skill development programme for budding as well as frontline cricketers of Assam as RR’s youth development and talent search programme is a success story. I hope the boys of Assam and the entire Northeast will reap major benefits from this endeavour of ACA.”
