The seeds of this concept were sown in 2003 a few months before I made my debut for India in a test match against New Zealand. We were playing football as part of our warm-up drills during the camp prior to the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu. I twisted my knee and heard a snapping sound. It swelled immediately and the physiotherapist with the team put a lot of ice to reduce the swelling. He was pretty sure that it was just a minor sprain and did not therefore require an x-ray or an MRI scan. I, like everyone else in our fraternity, accepted his word unquestioningly and carried on with a lot of exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee. I would play with my knee heavily taped to provide stability. I wasn’t sure if it was getting any better but with the semi-final match just a few days away, I didn’t want to think otherwise.

Then came the match. The batting started off fine until I scampered through for the first run and decided on the second. On turning for the second run I collapsed, the knee just buckled down and I felt extremely helpless. I decided immediately, regardless of the physiotherapist's advices, that I would get it scanned myself. Ergo, after the match I got it done and got the report soon as well. As usual I showed the report to the physio and he just said what he was saying earlier i.e. it was just a sprain and I need not worry. ‘Just get some physiotherapy done for a few weeks and it’ll be ok’ were his words of advice. We lost that match and with that the first class season ended. I had time on my hands so I continued with the therapy for a couple of weeks before our physiotherapist had to go out of town. A lot of time had passed since I twisted it but there seemed to be no improvement. So, I decided to read the MRI report myself and decode the medical terms. It clearly stated that there was a tear in the ‘Anterior cruciate ligament’. When I looked up the net I found out that it needed a surgery. Eventually I got it operated but by then at least two crucial months were lost due to lack of knowledge and guidance.

Then I got a chance to play for the country and realized the importance of fitness. It isn't like I didn’t know about it before but it was more streamlined once I was in the national squad. There was a specific training schedule to be followed in the off-season, pre-season and during the season. There were also a lot of new exercises included in the schedules which I had never heard of in the past. That got me thinking: if even first class cricketers don’t know about these training exercises and drills then what about the guy who’s just started playing cricket. Isn’t he missing out on a lot of knowledge? For him training would just mean running tons of rounds around the ground ,but there’s a lot more to fitness and training than circumnavigating the playing field. The routine has to be systematic so as to prepare someone for the highest level. But that information isn’t available anywhere and hence we’ll try to ensure that knowledge isn’t the privilege of only the ones playing at the highest level.

Then there’s knowledge or the lack of it about what to eat, how much to eat, how much to drink, all of which makes a difference in the professional world of cricket. There's also the psychological aspect to consider. Just a year ago, after having played over a decade of professional cricket, I was too confused as to how I should deal with the disappointments of not getting picked despite scoring a lot of runs; how to refocus and keep the fire burning to perform and excel in the face of disappointment. Let me assure you that cricket is played as much in the mind as it is on the field. So, I consulted a psychologist and my sessions with him were very fruitful. I learnt how to keep things in perspective and move on. Hence one entire section is dedicated to Psychology.

Recently I met a guy called Kapil in my gym. He’s basically from Mathura and had come to Delhi to pursue his dreams and play cricket, but he's now the gym trainer. He rode all over the city on his bicycle looking for an academy. Half the academies pushed him away thinking he wouldn’t be able to pay the monthly fees and he never could locate the rest of the academies. Then he bumped into a guy who claimed to know everything about cricket in the capital. He asked him to pay nearly 20 thousand rupees for filling a form which was mandatory if someone wants to play cricket in the capital. Incidentally the form he filled had the BCCI logo on it as well and, what’s more, the guy was operating from the premises of the DDCA. It doesn’t finish here, as this guy, this so-called cricket manager, made Kapil do the daily chores at his place. It took Kapil a year to realize that he was being conned, but by then he lost faith in people and also gave up on his dreams of playing the game he loved. Instead he did a course in training and started looking for jobs. After all he had to make ends meet.

Why did Kapil go through all this? The reason is that there wasn’t any information available on the cricket academies—their addresses, the facilities they provide and how much they charge. That got me going and I came up with a section dedicated to information on cricket academies all over the country. I know it’s a mammoth task but I’m blessed with a lot of friends who’ve chipped in with the information. This is just a start as we would try to get all the good academies under this umbrella, so that whatever Kapil needed to know is available just a mouse-click away.

This is just a start, guys. This website is an effort to tell an aspiring cricketer everything he needs to know about the game of cricket and how he can pursue his dreams to maybe, some day, don the national colors and represent the country at the international stage. We need your support and love to keep this dream alive and take it to the next level.

Thanks a lot for stopping by and hoping to see you on a regular basis. Cheers.