Yalvigi, 50, who is also on the Mumbai Cricket Association Apex Council, began his new innings in Patna recently
Anand Yalvigi
While 14-year-old Bihar opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi has become a huge talking point in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has initiated a process to improve the overall standard of cricket in the state. To help them chalk out and execute plans, BCA has roped in former Mumbai cricketer and selector Anand Yalvigi as Director — Game Development & Operations with the additional responsibility of being Chief Operating Officer of the Bihar Premier League.
Yalvigi, 50, who is also on the Mumbai Cricket Association Apex Council, began his new innings in Patna recently. His immediate goal is to replicate the kind of success the then Bombay Cricket Association’s BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme had in the early 1990s. The initiative that was spearheaded by ex-England pace bowler Frank Tyson, gave rise to a fast bowling revolution in the city. Even spinners like Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule were beneficiaries of the scheme.
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Ankola, Raju to tap talent
“My role centres around overall development of cricket, infrastructure and operations in Bihar. Our Bowlers ki Khoj [search for bowlers] scheme is set to run from May 9 to 12. It is a talent hunt scheme for boys and girls in the 16-26 age group across all 38 districts in the state. “I will invite [former India bowlers] Salil Ankola and Venkatapathy Raju to be chief talent scouts to guide them,” Yalvigi told mid-day from Patna. Yalvigi, who represented Mumbai, Karnataka and Maharashtra in 29 first-class matches, admitted that he himself was a beneficiary of the BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme.
“Our [Bihar CA] scheme is on the lines of BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme of which I was part of along with Paras [Mhambrey], Salil, Abey [Kuruvilla], Sairaj among others. Whatever I learnt from that scheme, I want to execute here. I want promising bowlers in Bihar to benefit from this scheme”
Yalvigi revealed that former Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman and coach, Vinayak Samant will be Bihar’s Ranji team’s chief mentor and coach for the domestic season.
Samant to coach Bihar
“We have appointed Vinayak as Bihar Ranji Trophy team’s chief mentor and coach. In a couple of months, we’ll have a sports psychologist too. Bihar
cricketers had an inferiority complex, but in the last two months I’ve seen improvement. They just needed an elder brother to put his hand on their shoulders and talk to them,” added Yalvigi.
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