Cuttack: The foundation stone for cricket academies in 15 districts was laid by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Tusharkanti Behera here on Monday.
The academies, run by the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), will provide an apt breeding ground to produce cricketing talents from all corners of the State.
The 15 affiliated district units that were inaugurated over video conference for the first Phase of District Infrastructure Development Programme are Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Balangir, Sonepur, Nuapada, Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Balasore, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Khordha and Gajapati.
The initiative to setup cricket academies is a part of OCA’s Vision 2024.
The newly-appointed coach of Odisha senior cricket team Wasim Jaffer shared a video message about the reforms that have taken place in Odisha Cricket and their much ambitious project OCA Vision@2024. The professionalism and spirited culture developed in the recent times has evolved OCA as most pro-active association in our country. This has inspired me to join hands with Odisha Cricket as the chief coach, said Jaffer in his message.
The proposed cricket academies will have a ground, coach and proper infrastructure for players. Sports Department Secretary Vishal Dev, OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera and members of OCA were present on the occasion.
Among others, Principal Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, Vishal Kumar Dev and Secretary, Football Association of Odisha & Former Secretary Odisha Cricket Association, Odisha Olympic Association, Asirbad Behera were also present.
