Need to revive quality of college tournaments to identify more talent, says Anshuman Gaekwad

Need to revive quality of college tournaments to identify more talent, says Anshuman Gaekwad

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Former India coach, Anshuman Gaekwad, has said that there is a need to revive the quality of the college level tournaments to help in identifying new talent at the young level. The BCCI is planning to glamorize the Vizzy Trophy again so as to get more college players to the National fold.

The BCCI has chalked down a lot of agendas that need to be discussed in the next month’s Captain Conclave, but the first and foremost agenda is the glamorization of the Vizzy Trophy, an inter-zonal university cricket tournament held each year to identify talent at the college level. Former Indian cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad, along with Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Dilip Vengsarkar and Kapil Dev, had excelled at the Rohinton Baria and Vizzy Trophy before being able to play for the country.

“By reviving the quality of tournaments at a varsity level, we can identify more talent,” Anshuman Gaekwad said, reported the Hindu.

“Some of the outstanding talents emerged from inter-university tournaments. The age group tournaments were not so prominent and schools and universities provided the supply line for the selectors. We would work hard to get into the Combined Universities team for the tour match against visiting national teams. It was a big fixture on the domestic calendar.”

The post IPL era has seen youngsters wanting themselves to get noticed by playing in the Live telecasted matches. The BCCI are keen on the same and an official even went on to say that they would try to get the matches televised as well. As the Association of Indian Universities failed to conduct the event efficiently, BCCI has decided to take over the responsibilities so as to revive the tournament and attract young budding cricketers.

“It would be a throwback to the time when university cricket was big. We will have a live telecast of the Vizzy Trophy final. The visibility factor matters a lot and I am sure the best cricketers will make themselves available,” a BCCI official said

“College sport, especially cricket, has been devalued. The best cricketers hardly turn out.”

Colleges have failed to put up a good cricket team in recent times as they have not been able to fund the players with proper cricketing kits required for the practice and matches.

“Most colleges struggle to raise a proper cricket team. Even otherwise, I have seen an alarming drop in the number of good cricketers wanting to study. They have begun to earn good money by playing cricket 365 days and don’t have to look for a job that comes from a college degree,” noted sports commentator Novy Kapadia added on. 

Anshuman Gaekwad who represented India in 40 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals after emerging from these varsity level tournaments emphasized the importance of the tournament.

“I was 21 when I first played for India and was considered a youngster. Now the youngster is an 18-year-old. University cricket provides the platform for those who cross the under-19 limit but fall within the under-23 category. By reviving the quality of university cricket, we can identify more talent,” concluded Gaekwad.

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