Ravi Shastri meets Naveen, discusses cricket academy

Bhubaneswar: Former cricketer Ravi Shastri on Wednesday called on Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and discussed a project on providing coaching to young boys and girls of the State. Shastri was accompanied by another former coach R Sridhar and industrialist Pankaj Lochan Mohanty. “Glad to meet ex-cricketer & former head coach of Team India, @RaviShastriOfc, who visited #Odisha to attend the MoU signing event between ‘Coaching Beyond’ cricket academy and #Cuttack-based MGM School of Sports to establish a high performance cricket academy,” Naveen posted on X. ‘Coaching Beyond’, a cricket coaching institution founded by Shastri, on Tuesday signed an MoU with Odisha-based MGM School of Sports, which was established near Cuttack.

The Chief Minister said they had a very fruitful discussion on the development of world-class cricket infrastructure in Odisha and thanked Shastri for appreciating the State’s sporting ecosystem. Shastri told reporters that the venture will provide the best coaching and other facilities to produce international-standard players from the school of sports. The cricket academy is going to attract a lot of people from across the country for its size, quality of infrastructure and location, he said. ‘Coaching Beyond’ will be the knowledge and technical partner for this venture of MGM School of Sports, MGM Minerals Ltd CMD Pankaj Lochan Mohanty said. To begin this venture, up to 50 young male cricketers will be selected and offered training at a subsidised fee, he said. The number of trainees will be increased in future for both male and female cricketers, he said.

Besides, the academy will run a daily coaching programme which will be open to all age groups of boys and girls, Mohanty added.