Film-maker S.S. Rajamouli went down memory lane when he used to share a cricket bat with the others in his hometown Kovvur (Andhra Pradesh) in childhood!
And that he says is the reason for him to accept the chairmanship of the Indian Schools Board of Cricket (ISBC) to provide the desired impetus to promotional activities for the willow sport across the rural belt in India. Cricketing great Dilip Vengsarkar is the chief advisor and K. Laxman, MP., is the chief patron of the ISBC.
“Like many, I was also a cricketer and one of those in the rural areas who didn’t have any platform. We felt we lacked proper infrastructure and a decent tournament format to showcase the young talent,” Rajamouli said on Saturday.
“Well, I am also a huge fan of Dhoni. And his journey from a small town (then) to go on to lead India to two World Cup wins is truly inspirational. So, I want to see more and more Dhonis to emerge from the rural areas through this huge initiative of K. Sunil Babu who started this ISBC,” he said.
Interestingly, Rajamouli also revealed that when he moved over to the city he also played in the Lower Division of HCA Leagues. “This is a big dream no doubt. But it is wonderful on the part of Sunil Babu to put this into action. I am sure it will be a huge hit,” he said.
Sunil Babu, Founder-CEO of ISBC, said they would host Schools World Cup in January and as a prelude to that permanent camps would be set up across the country in 760-plus centres. “There will be a talent search programme at village, mandal, district and State-levels. Inter-district and zonal tournaments will be held to pick the State teams. In all, about 3.6 lakh children in the age group of 12 to 16 years would be under scrutiny and the deserving will get the desired support,” he explained.
“We invite school children to upload one-minute videos on www.isbc.online when they play those unorganised matches with no basic facilities,” Sunil said.
