The J&K Sports Council on Tuesday entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Suresh Raina Cricket Academy to develop budding cricketers of J&K for the national and international level with a comprehensive training program at a professional level.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and former India international Suresh Raina.
The Lt Governor observed that the initiative will provide an opportunity to the budding cricketers to hone their skills and to showcase their talent at various levels.
Complimenting the ace cricketer, the Lt Governor said that Raina would be a dream mentor for the young talents from J&K who are working hard to get into the big leagues.
"With experienced international cricketers like Suresh Raina, who is an inspiration for millions of aspiring cricketers, mentoring the youth of J&K, I am hopeful we will soon have many players competing to get into the national team," he said.
It was informed that the J&K Sports Council shall make available supporting infrastructure for the Suresh Raina Cricket Academy to impart coaching to the youth to promote excellence in sports.
The MoU provides for daily upkeep and maintenance of sports facilities and the equipment by Suresh Raina Cricket Academy to be allowed for usage by the J&K Sports Council. The MoU shall run for a period of one year and is renewable on mutual understanding.
Raina said that being the son of the soil, he wants to contribute to the game in whatever way he can. He said that motivating the youth to work hard and to prepare them for competitive events at the national and international levels should be the goal.
Raina further said that J&K has come a long way in the last few years to upgrade its infrastructure across the length and breadth of the Union Territory. He added that J&K has a vast pool of talent that needs proper hand-holding and direction to make a mark on national and international platforms. He further said that the game has been commercialized a lot and there is no dearth of chances to get recognized and rewarded if one possesses the necessary spark.