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| Football and (below) cricket coaching at Badal Bose Academy. Pictures by Gopal Senapati |
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Since 2012, an All Bengal Sub-junior T20 tournament is being played on the field of Badal Bose Cricket Academy, the cricket wing of B Garden Krira Samity on Andul Road. Teams from different parts of West Bengal participated in the tournament for two consecutive years. A unique rule of the tournament is that no player can hit a six. The idea is to teach the players how to play the game well, and not on how to hit big. At Badal Bose Cricket Academy, young players are given a thorough training on the nets with the aim of nurturing national players.
Although cricket is being played only from 2002 in B Garden Krira Samity, the coaching centre has already made a good name for itself in Howrah. Young players aspiring to become cricketers and play for Team India get themselves enrolled in Badal Bose Cricket Academy.
B Garden Krira Samity was established in 1971 as a football club that played under the name of Evergreen Club. Although the team did not play at the Calcutta Maidan, it played in the Howrah sub-division matches. In 1993-94, many local clubs merged with Evergreen Club to play football. At the district level, the team has made a name in the last two years, in the senior league, winning the Howrah district championship. The team was also champion in the nursery league in 2010-11.
The cricket team of Badal Bose Cricket Academy participates in the Bengal junior and sub-junior tournaments. Asif Hussain, a trainee at the academy, plays U-16 Bengal while Pritam Chakraborty plays for the U-19 Bengal team. Sohail Khan, another player, was captain of the U-14 Bengal team. Stalin Ghosh, from the academy has also played in the U-22 Bengal team. He is currently playing at George Telegraph.
“We have a total of 237 students, who are training at the academy now. Most of them are players from Howrah while some of the senior boys come from Calcutta to train here,” said Biplab Chakraborty, the cricket coach at the centre. The big playground has worked to the advantage of the centre. “We have two separate fields for cricket and football and we maintain discipline on the field. Most of the young boys who enrol to play cricket here, come with starry ideas about the game, because of the kind of popularity that it has. However, many drop out when they see that it involves a lot of dedication and concentration,” said Chakraborty.
However, it’s not just serious training at the academy, there is also space for little ones to enjoy themselves at sishu mela, another activity of the club. Through four days in the week, children between five to six years come to play and get physical training in the open ground. “We do not make them do any rigorous physical exercise but just let them run around and play with a ball for some time. The field is full of tiny tots once evening sets in. We have 74 members in this section and a trainer,” said Chakraborty.
Table tennis is another sport at the academy and training takes place every afternoon. “Our club members play table tennis tournaments and also district level tournaments,” said Chakraborty. But the most interesting addition to the club is the gymnastics section, which has been introduced from last year. The club’s community hall ground floor has been turned into a makeshift centre for gymnastics training. “We have started aerobics gymnastics which does not require any equipment. This mainly includes floor exercises done on a mat,” said Debasish Dam Chowdhury, the gymnastics trainer at the academy.
Factfile
- Name: B Garden Krira Samity & Evergreen Club
- Estd: 1973
- Activities: Cricket coaching, football coaching and tournaments, table tennis coaching, gymnastics
