Mithali Raj appointed as Andhra’s Mentor of Women’s Cricket Operations
“Mithali has signed a three-year contract with us with the specific objective of scouting and grooming young talent across the State,” ACA Secretary S. Satish Babu said.
Published : Nov 17, 2024 17:54 IST , Hyderabad - 2 MINS READ
File image of Mithali Raj. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL/The Hindu
Former India women’s cricket captain Mithali Raj will don the role of Mentor of Women’s Cricket Operations of Andhra Cricket Association.
“Mithali has signed a three-year contract with us with the specific objective of scouting and grooming young talent across the State. We are really happy that she has taken up this responsibility which is part of our efforts to give a new direction to women’ cricket,” ACA Secretary S. Satish Babu said in a chat with Sportstar.
“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 said.
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“The Academy will have not only qualified support staff taking care of the cricketing aspects but also medical personnel for the girls,” he said. “Obviously, we don’t expect any immediate results as this is a long-term project wherein the emphasis will be equally on physical conditioning and skills,” he added.
“Like about 300 men cricketers, whom we are paying Rs 3000 towards nutrition charges per head every month, the women cricketers will also be taken care off,” Satish said.
“In fact, it is Mithali’s idea to organise matches regularly for the under-15 girls against different State teams and also the boys in the higher age group to make them more skilful and confident,” the ACA Secretary said.
Satish also revealed that a similar High Performance Academy exclusively for men will be opened at Vizianagaram where even national players have to train there only.
“We are focussing a lot on rural talent and teams will go to interiors of the State to scout and groom talent. A critical review will be done by Mithali’s team on who should be focussed for long-term training and exposure,” Satish said.