Former India head coach John Wright and Jhulan Goswami had a special training session with the Mumbai Indians Junior Champions as they passed on their valuable knowledge across the youth. Mumbai Indians, five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions and the defending Women’s Premier League (WPL) champions held special training session for the boys of U-14, U-16 teams after the conclusion of their third MI Junior Inter-School Cricket Tournament.
Jhulan and Wright guide next generation
Post the session, Jhulan Goswami said, “It was a lot of fun. They are so intelligent. They know what to do. When I asked certain questions, they gave spontaneous responses. I was really impressed. When I was young, I was not that prompt. They understand their games really well and it is a credit to their respective coaches back home. It is creditable that Mumbai Indians are taking such initiatives for young boys and girls.”
John Wright remembered his time as India coach and spoke about how it is vital for youngsters to get opportunities like MI Junior in age group cricket. “It is really important that everyone gets the opportunity to play games of cricket in an organized way. A lot of the boys that I coached came through very hard pathways. Some of them had to fight very hard to just get a game of cricket. It is vital that youngsters get to play as much as possible.”
It took him back to his time as a schoolboy cricketer in New Zealand. “I have always enjoyed and valued working with young cricketers of all ages. We have all experienced that while growing up. It was a long time ago but you still have memories as a 12 or 14-year-old that loved the game. At that age, you play whenever and wherever you can and have dreams of representing your country. In this age, they also dream of playing the IPL. It was great to see their shining eyes and bright smiles. We just encouraged children to have big dreams, enjoy themselves and have fun.”
The talent on show impressed both Wright and Goswami who have seen the ups and downs in the game for decades.
The kids underwent a set of various training and fielding drills while also getting to ask their questions and interact with the two respected coaches. The girls began first, and then followed by the two boys teams.
The third edition of MI Junior was played across iconic grounds in Mumbai, Pune & Nagpur and had participation of over 400 teams with close to 3500 boys and girls participating across three age groups of Boys U-14, Girls U-15 and Boys U-16. Notably, the tournament had about 16 women scorers who were accredited with the cricket associations, officiating across the matches in Mumbai, apart from that around 63 female physio’s were on the ground to look after the players and guide them through the injuries.
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