The annual Under-19 camp held at the NCA witnessed junior cricketers undergo intensive month-long training under the watchful eyes of the likes of NCA batting coach WV Raman, NCA bowling coach Narendra Hirwani, former Mumbai captain Amol Muzumdar, former India bowler Subroto Banerjee among others. The camp exposed the boys to different manufacturers of balls currently used at the domestic level and internationally. Since the SG Test ball is different from the Kookaburra and also the Dukers ball, the boys were given a through practice to help them understand the difference and adapt accordingly. While speaking to BCCI.TV, Banerjee observed, “This is probably the best that I have attended. There are quite a few promising players. It was an excellent camp.”

Speaking about the newest addition to the variety of balls, the former pacer said, “The pink ball is a bit different, not too different (but it) seams around a lot. It doesn’t swing much. After pitching, the ball moves around a lot. So it is also a challenge for the batsmen to adjust. It was an experience for the bowlers and they enjoyed bowling with it. “They played with the Dukes, SG and Kookaburra balls. The red, white and pink balls. They played with all kinds of balls which are used at the international level, and they had a fantastic experience.” He added, “They loved playing with the Dukes ball more because (for) a fast bowler the ball swings all the time. It is good fun for the bowlers as they (most of them) had never bowled with a Duke ball or a Kookaburra. (While) few of them (who) had played in the Under 19 ICC World Cup (had some experience), most of them had not played with other balls so it was a great experience for them and they also got used to the ball. If they have to play international cricket with any of these balls, they have the experience of bowling with those balls. “It was a challenge for the batsmen because the ball was having a bit of extra bounce; it was moving off the wicket so it was bit difficult for the batsmen and they had to adjust to that. Few of them did really well with that ball when we played with the pink ball.” While saying that it was a gainful experience, pacer, Rahul Batham, who was also part of India’s U19 World Cup team mentioned, “We enjoyed skill sessions and the matches. We learnt a lot about small things (that make a difference and), mistakes in (my) bowling. Sir, (Banerjee helped in) fine tuning and that has made difference.” Discussing some of the changes, he said, “My non bowling arm was a bit loose so (now I am) trying to keep it firm and we also worked on my run up. My run up was straight so we have tried to make it a bit sideways. It has given me a lot of confidence in my bowling. It has improved so I am feeling good.” Reiterating the coach’s statement, the bowler said, “Playing the practice matches has given us experience. We (juniors) play very little (cricket) with white ball (normally) and have used the pink ball for the first time. This gave us an idea about how to use the white and the pink ball as well.

“When it is new, the white ball swings well while the pink ball didn’t have that much movement (that is), swing early on but there was bounce. It was hard so when we hit it good bounce, it was moving well off the wicket,” he elaborated. “I will continue what I have learnt here and work on it and try to improve further. So when the season starts, I am ready for it,” the lad from Madhya Pradesh said. His counterpart, Shubman Gill too echoed his thoughts that it was a learning experience and he looks forward to work on what he has learnt during the camp to prepare himself ahead of the season. Gill, who received the M.A. Chidambaram Trophy for the Best Under-16 two seasons in a row (2013-14 and 2014-15) attended the U19 camp for the first time. The batsman who has often played important knocks for his domestic side at the U16 and last season at the U19 mentioned, “We learnt a lot from WV Raman sir and Amol Muzumdar sir. They worked quite a bit on my batting, which I will look to implement in my game. There were no major changes as such. They spoke to me about small adjustments like weight transfer and leaning in while playing the shot. Amol sir spoke to me about running between the wickets, becoming quicker and body language. These inputs and will changes help going forward. “We enjoyed playing practice games and the wickets were challenging for the batsmen (so being able to play on them) and felt good. A camp like this is very important as it helped realize our mistakes. I will go back and practice; do skill work and try to do the best that I can,” the batsman concluded.

The camp was held at the NCA in Bengaluru from 15 June to 14 July 2016.

List of coaches and support staff:

List of participants: