Academy for the Gen-next

Nestled amidst the hustle-bustle of GN Chetty Road in T Nagar lies a sprawling cricket ground with net facilities along with turf, matting and concrete wickets. At first look, it could be passed off as just another ground but on closer introspection one can find a bunch of enthusiastic children jostling for space around one coach, who does all the talking as the enthusiastic bunch listen in awe.

Soon after the talk, the excitement among the children is understandable as the mentor of the Gen-Next Cricket Institute that operates in the ground premises, Ravichandran Ashwin arrives to give more tips and conduct drills to the budding crop. The cricket institute, owned by the cricketer’s father N Ravichandran, is fast becoming the ‘go-to destination’ for budding cricketers, the reason — the training methodology they adopt. 

The cricket camp is overseen by head coach P Srinivasan (who coaches Ashwin too), coach Santhosh along with Sudarshan, the COO. The camp’s sole aim is to make a difference to cricket coaching by adopting unique practices. 

Sudarshan said their (coaches and management) first aim is to help the youngsters enjoy the game. “Our goal at Gen-Next is to help kids discover the joy of cricket. The second most priority for us is to create good cricketers with the top most being creating good human beings. Boys completely love their time at GenNext. Parents also understand it. We are trying to make a difference. We have set processes in place designed by Ashwin, which ensures his guided mentorship. So the system will do well. It is just a matter of time,” Sudarshan said.

Ashwin’s coach Srinivasan said the academy’s prime importance is to help children becomes athletes first. “We first ensure the boy is not obese. We will ensure he moves out of obesity in the first four to five months. It will be our primary goal. We just don’t talk about cricket alone here. If a boy’s motor skills are less, we will make sure he improves in it. We will work on his vision skills, hand-eye coordination and it will become fantastic. It’s not about cricketing skills. It’s a living skill. If a boy is going in cycle, he should know what’s going around. Most kids who are confined to apartments don’t possess these qualities unfortunately,” he said.

He added: “First, more than cricket our focus is on making the boy a good athlete, who has got fantastic motor skills. Then we come to cricket. In cricket, it’s more about match simulations. At the end of it, we look at performance. Any sport you take, you have to give results. We move towards result-oriented practice sessions. All our practices will be result-based.” 

Sudarshan said professionalism is the key to their approach. “Coaching centres across the country are unstructured and we would like to change that. For that reason, we have weekly reports for every kid to track their progress. We also have quarterly meets with the child’s parents. At Gen-Next, we follow the DDE model which stands for Design, Drive and Execution. We also follow an individual program style which is designed exclusively for each kid. My job is to be the driving force. The coaches are executioners. We are being extremely professional about this,” the COO added. 

The cricket coaching is based on a process that is set in place under the guidance of Ashwin. “The boys are given certain responsibilities. We don’t shout at the boys. Each bowler or batsman or keeper knows his role in the team (during coaching). How the youngster inculcates that role will be the key aspect. The kids will then know how to do and what to do on in different scenarios. We work on these things. We focus on the right technique from the young age. We also have ladder drills that will help a kid to bowl a particular line. We also have different match simulations and watch how a child would react to a particular situation and then encourage or change his mind set based on how he responds,” Sudarshan added. 

With the T20 bug hitting the youngsters, Sudarshan and Srinivasan said it was about understanding a child’s natural instinct and not they wouldn’t be trying to break any notions. “Yes and we can’t change that (the power hitting mode of children). But at the same time we shouldn’t be stopping a kid from going for his shots because when he can clear, why should we defend? If a kid has a lot of power, let me go for it. Each kid has a different role to play in the team and according to his strength and mind set, we try to develop him,” they added.

The coaching staff at Gen-Next gives the trainee an opportunity to identify and understand his natural talent and according to them it would go a long way in shaping a youngster’s career. “A trainee has to try and learn what comes good to him. You have to try out everything and understand what works for you. If you don’t try, you won’t know what works for you. Somebody will be really good at sweeping. But somebody will be really good at stepping out and hitting the same ball. A child has to try 10 different shots and find the four shots that works for him the best. The player has to figure it out and it will take time, you have to give him the space to figure it out and that is what we focus on Gen-Next,” Sudarshan said. 

Sudarshan said the plans for a residential academy is in the pipeline and apart from that, they have embarked on global tours too. “In December we went to Dubai for a threeday coaching clinic. We tied up with an academy called ESM in the UAE. So, as part of an exchange program there is a trainee who has turned up in Chennai for a couple of weeks. We are also planning to touch bases in Singapore and other countries for coaching,” he said.

But for the most important aspect of how much time Ashwin spends at the academy, given his busy international schedule, Sudarshan quipped, “A lot of time. Whenever he is in Chennai. Whenever he is not on an Indian tour, he makes sure he is with the boys. He loves to mentor them.”