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| Indian cricket team at the IIT-Chemplast ground |
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| The preparatory camp for the Indian probables
for the ICC Knock Out Tournament at Nairobi was recently held
in Chennai. Heavy rain on the second day of the camp made the
Indian cricket team’s coach Anshuman Gaekwad, place an
SOS call to Bharat Reddy asking if the team could shift to the
IIT-Chemplast ground. One thing led to another and after the
first day’s net practice session, impressed by the wonderful
facilities here, the team management decided to have all their
further practice sessions at the ground. |
| It was a wonderful experience for us to host
the Indian team which enjoyed practising at IIT Chemplast. Sachin
Tendulkar was one who was extremely happy with the practice
wickets. He felt that the wickets played very true, offering
assistance to the bowler and also allowing the batsman to play
his shots, “I wish I had seen this wonderful ground earlier,
I would have had all the previous camps for the Indian team
here”, exclaimed Gaekwad, the coach of the Indian team. |
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| The Indian probables played two warm up games
under the watchful eyes of the five national selectors. Chandu
Borde, Madanlal, Ashok Malhotra, T A Sekar and Anil Deshpande.
All the five selectors, Chandu Borde in particular, praised
the facilities, and said that our ground was comparable to the
best international grounds in the country. |
| We had the privilege of hosting a number of
dignitaries from the Indian cricket administration, BCCI President
A C Muthiah, BCCI Secretary J Y Lele and former test cricketers
S Venkatraghavan and Krish Srikkanth dropping in to watch the
probables show their wares. |
| The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has honoured
us by giving us the privilege of hosting the Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka
Ranji Trophy cricket match at our ground later this year. |
| Speaking at an informal tea on the final day
of the practice session at the IIT-Chemplast ground, R Natarajan,
Director, IIT Madras, wished the team good luck and success
on the Kenyan tour. Gaekwad was all praise for the excellent
maintenance of the ground and thanked us for all the facilities
offered to them during the practice sessions here. |
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| L to R: TNCA Secretary Ashok Kumbhat, Bharat
Reddy and Sunil Joshi with Vijay Sankar. |
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| R to L: Rahul Dravid, Bharat Reddy and Vijay
Sankar at an informal get-together. |
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