Gennext Shines in the Middle East

Its been quite a while since yours truly pitched in with his words but TBK cannot really be faulted for the work that has been happening all around us at Gennext. Workaholic it has been the last few months and so I decided that this one Sunday will be the one to express my thoughts with all the hectic happenings all around us. For starters TBK is now officially a part of the Gennext Team. Personally its a great honor bestowed on me, to shoulder a great responsibility alongside one of the greatest Legends of the Game, our dearest mentor Ravichandran Ashwin.

I still recall one of the evenings a few months back, we were all gathered at RKM grounds in T. Nagar. It was one of the happy, fun evenings which is normally the case with my boss around, actually I am entitled to call him that officially now and it does feel great. So back to that evening, all happy faces around. All of a sudden, my mentors face turned grim and serious. At that point of time, I was still the happy go lucky fan boy and not a full time employee. Ashwin turned to Sudarshan and both of them had an animated discussion. I was like - Hope Things were fine.

It turned out that we had to vacate RKM ground in a months time and we had no place to go. It was almost as though the ground under us was pulled away and we were hurtling headlong into a dark abyss. Where do we go from here? What do we do? One single Center and One School was all that we had at that point of time. However this is where the leaders vision comes through. Ashwin was perturbed for a few minutes but he recovered from that initial shock almost immediately. He announced quite nonchalantly "Guys we are expanding. We are no longer going to be dependent on one single center." A magic few words were all that was needed to turn this entire organization around towards unheralded growth.

We moved to Loyola....KRM a school in Perambur fell in place. Pon Vidyashram our existing center in Valsaravalkam started to show exciting growth. APL in OMR, Chennai one of the upmarket schools decided to join hands with us.An announcement to follow shortly in this regard. At the time of penning down this blog we are in advanced talks of closing the deal with one of the leading schools in Chennai as our next center. While we seem to have more than discovered our mojo at our home base in Chennai we also have expanded our footprint beyond our shores into Foreign Land. We have now tied up with Desert Cubs in Dubai. Gennext Desert Cubs will cater to the requirements of Cricket Coaching in the Middle East. Our Team consisting of Ashwin, our COO-Sudarshan, our coaches Santosh and Srinivasan were there in Dubai last week to kick start our operations there.

The Visit to Dubai was a roaring success and Teams on either side are gung-ho about the relationship with a lot of interesting plans for the future. I would be failing in my duty at this point of time if I do not thank Mr Ramesh ,Mr Balaji and Mr Vinay who were the key architects of this exciting relationship. As I spoke with Ashwin yesterday he was pretty excited with all that transpired in Dubai. His words still ring in my ears"TBK, this tour to Dubai was a grand success and we are really crossing boundaries"

So much has transpired in the last few months and many more good tidings to come in the future. All that has happened has happened for the good including our move from RKM to Loyola. The biggest learning for all of us being that we were in a closed shell as long as we were at RKM, but the moment we decided to open up our vision, the world has become our stage, endless, seamless growth options. All this growth that we have experienced in the last few months has been entirely due to all our staff at Gennext. For me personally this has been an exciting new journey which I pray to continue for many more years to come.

Its Us Vs Us

An ideal morning for a lovely game of Cricket. There is nip in the air, clouds are a little low lying and there is this gentle air that is blowing across the ground. Typical Picnic morning English conditions when you may want to snooze around in lush green environs watching a lovely game of cricket. So when the COO of our institute asked TBK to come over and cover an interesting match as a reporter I was game for it. Now This was indeed a very unique match being played between Gennext Cricket Institute and Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists Association. 

One was that I was a tad bit nervous as I was covering a match between journalists and Cricketers. It was a match between Men who wield the Pen and the Keyboard and the Men who wield the bat and the ball. Why then the title "Its Us Vs Us" Well I am of the opinion that here was a motley group of sports journalists who day in and day out cover the matches of the cricketers, cornering their glory milestones, being their biggest critique, splashing newspaper headlines with their glorious achievements and making heros out of mere mortals. So in a sense there is no real match out here but the coming together of individuals, the coming together of expressions just for the cause of fun and celebration. Indeed Us Vs Us.

My daily morning begins with the newspaper and so when I came across a set of names to go along with my blog I was in a sense very excited because I was being given an opportunity to write about the gentlemen from the fourth estate. I have always made it a point to begin reading the newspaper from the sports page, like the Urdu script, that being my fascination for sports. So when names like TN Raghu,Santhosh kumar, N Srinivasa,Venkatnarayan,S Sudarsan,Dipak Ragav,EK Sanjay, Srikanth,Ashok Venugopal,Vivek Krishnan,S Bagawati Prasad pop up in front of your eyes in Bold, you are in a zone where you get to write about a group of gentlemen who write day in and day out for you.

Coming to the match itself. I never intended to do a ball by ball ball coverage, neither an elaborate article of who win or who lost. TNSJA came together, Thanks to Balaji Sir, Sudarshan and Baggs whose idea it was to play this match. We grow up in life ,become adults and make a mark in a chosen professional field, yet the child in us refuses to die down. Exactly what happened on the Cricket Field today. The esteemed gentlemen from the press wielded their bats with a lot of clout and willowful power. A Few sixes and fours rained across the field. With all that breeze around its never easy to clear the ground that too with a tennis ball, but TNSJA were clearly here to have some fun and display that they as adept at wielding the bat as they power their pen . We were pleasantly left surprised at their fielding prowess. A few stunning catches and we had to dig in to playing some amount of serious cricket. The Game of Cricket had emerged victorious.

Our most respected Ravichandran uncle was there in person to give away the prizes to all the winners. We wish to thank Manna Foods India for those lovely gift hampers, Specsmakers for their goodies and Dollars & Pounds for their Gift Vouchers. It was indeed a wonderful gesture on the part of the sponsors. The event in totality was a feel good factor, end of the day it is these wonderful gentlemen who represent us in print and the joining together of hands bodes very well for the cricketers and the journalists. On the whole a very pleasant and happy outing and I am sure that this is just the first such event of many more to come.

Straight Drive with Ravichandran Sir

The moment you enter our institute grounds, of course you will be greeted by a lush green outfield and a good splattering of kids enjoying the game of cricket. More than anything else you will be greeted by smiling young coaches, one amongst them , yours truly. You will into most occasions bump into an elderly, young simple Gentleman, Ravichandran who also happens to be the founder of our institute and Ashwins father.

My encounter with him was dramatic no less. I was walking away from the institute when I found Ravichandran sir seated on one of the steps, when he enquired about me. I introduced myself. Sudarshan our COO was close by and added a few words. My stupid ignorance gave way at this point of time and I had the gall to know who he was. Sir said the following words. "I am Ravichandran, the founder of this institute" I only felt like kicking myself but also was taken aback by his simplicity. From that time I have always wanted to write a piece on Ravichandran sir and I am very happy that this column of "Straight Drive" will be used for the very purpose. At first when i broached him with the idea about the blog, he said that he would tell me about a fathers side of the story, and then it took a few weeks to get there but in between we have had a few sittings where i could really understand why Ashwin reached where he is currently, only because of a uncompromising parental system that worked wonders in the backend.

For us fans it is always about the Idiot box in front of us, cheering our hero as he takes a couple of hundred wickets but hardly are we aware about the making of our hero and his days of struggle, the pains that the family has gone through and the sacrifice that they have had to make. Ravichandran Sir took me through glimpses of his past and his role in all of it. Not many of us would know that Sir is himself is a foodie and food for him has to be sumptuous. He cannot compromise any shortcomings as far as taste is concerned. Indeed we can call him a perfectionist. He tells me "Karthik come over and I will make you the best possible Masala Dosa." He cannot tolerate to see a person go hungry. Whenever he sees a person in hunger he feeds them with food. Noble Quality of the highest order.

Sir is very concerned that just as parents need to take care of children, the role sort of reverses when the parents grow older. It is the turn of the children to take care of the parents. It pains him no less when it comes to his ears of children abandoning their parents.

We spoke at length about Ashwin and here is where Sir let out his emotions. He told me about how he would tutor Ashwin and help him with his lessons. At a stage when cricket became a important priority in Ashwins life, he would have to miss classes. Sir would go to the class take the note books from other children, have them xeroxed and bring them home for Ashwin to study. Sir would himself study the entire chapter, mark out important sections in the lesson so that Ashwin could focus on the same. Later on in the night when the entire world would be lured into slumber, Sir would ask questions from the lesson, the dutiful son would answer the question correctly. Sir stresses that Ashwin has always cooperated as far as academics is concerned and was always studious as a child.

When it came to Cricket Sir would drop and pick up Ashwin from the ground after the match. In fact he comes to our institute sometimes on the same bike that he would use to drop Ashwin. He continues to maintain the same bike till date. These were the days of struggle. There were occasions when Ashwin would be overlooked despite his talent, and the hard decision would have to be conveyed to him by sir. The youngster was quite mature beyond his years and would quite nonchalantly say "Appa, No problem, lets go home".There were times when people around the family would cast aspertions around how Cricket could make a career, today the same people shower the family with praises. An Emotional Ravichandran Sir told me how life has come a full circle for the entire family. I could myself feel a lump in my throat when he was sharing his experiences.

There is always a word of advice about the finer nuances of the game when a cricketer approaches him for his advice. For those of you who dont know, Sir was a fine medium pacer in his heydays. He has always advocated that academics is as important as Cricket and that both should compliment each other. Sir also stresses on the importance of Parents supporting the child by encouraging the talent in him or her. He also adds that when you send your children for cricket practice or for matches, do sit and watch them play. When the child is at the center, he does crave for attention, he looks up at the galleries to see if someone is watching him, at that moment a gentle wave of the hand works wonders.

Of course our philosophy is about "Creating Tomorrows Cricketing Superstars" but the unsaid silent philosophy that is always at the back of our mind is to create a better human being, which was the intention of our founder Ravichandran sir when he was parenting Ashwin, and that is the exact image that keeps coming to TallboyKarthiks mind each time he meets Ashwin, a genuinely great human being. Hats off to Mrs and Mr Ravichandran for giving to us Ravichandran Ashwin.....

Straight Drive with Balaji

When we started to pick up the threads of this blog we never really thought that we would be left with many valuable lessons of life. But the blog has left us a lot wiser and when such kind of pleasant situations arise we at Gen-next feel it is our responsibility to share the experiences with all of our dear Readers. In this feature of Straight Drive we are proud to present a very candid and up-front conversation with former cricket writer V. Balaji who also happens to be R. Ashwin's Manager now.

On Balaji's Childhood Days and his fondness for Cricket

Balaji's association with the game of Cricket started when he was very young.

As most Indian kids, he picked bat and ball and started playing at the age of six. He has represented Vidya Mandir at the school level. Balaji moved to Ebenezer Marcus for completing his plus two education. It was at this stage that he started understanding his own game better. Balaji has played league cricket (2nd division). At a critical juncture in his playing career two knee injuries crushed his dreams of playing the game at a professional level, any further. But his love for the game continued unabated to such an extent that him not being able to play the game any more left him with strong withdrawal symptoms. It was tough for him not tot think about the game. In the pre-internet era, Balaji would wake up at five in the morning to read The Hindu. He would keep himself abreast with the latest in the world of cricket including statistics with neatly cut newspaper clippings. In a frenzied moment the teenager in him gave way to emotions and he tore up the carefully collected paper scores of his in the Hindu and Indian Express. Not that he considered himself to be a great cricketer but the very thought that he could not play cricket affected him emotionally. Cricket was and is very dear to him. Balaji was just Nineteen years old at that time, an age where emotion rules over maturity, Balaji was shattered to come around the fact that his tryst with a game that he so much loved had ended (as a player). That he could no longer compete was a bit of a dampener.

Now what is about to follow is in our opinion a huge lesson. When you love something very passionately it will come back to you in a different form. All it requires is patience and persistence to keep following your passion and not give up at any stage. 

A lettered and Passionate Professional Career

Balaji joined Amex in 1997. He in his own words says that he was at a crossroads in life where the road left took him to a three-year contract with Amex. He was on his bike at Gemini circle, almost taking the road towards Amex, out of the blue there was a call from a HR consultant who asked him if he would be interested to join Clickcricket.com as a Content Consultant. It was the beginning of the Internet boom plus the job took him back to the game that he loved so much. So it was goodbye to Uncle Sam and back to bat and ball (albeit in a different form). His life changed over the next four years. He was very happy that he took the straight road.  Some very pulsating data points here. As a part of his job he is credited to digitizing Cricket Australia's Coaching manual in India. Wow that is indeed some amount of content. He has written around 30000 questions for cricinfo. He has been involved as a web commentator for more than 100 international matches for sify, Rediff, Airtel and Wisden combined. Balaji has worked for other web publications as well. Dial 646 those days and you would hear Balaji regaling his audience with cricket commentary. By mid 2003 he got into print journalism and till 2013 travelled the world writing cricket for the Deccan Chronicle/Asian Age as their sports Editor. He quit full time journalism in 2014, last writing for Wisden India. 

A Cricket match Balaji fondly recalls and the Game he loved earned him friends for life

A match he remembers is the India Pakistan match at Chepauk where the Pakistan team was accorded a warm lap of honour by the Cricket loving Chennai audience. In His Capacity as the Sports editor for Deccan Chronicle Balaji has covered 30 Test matches. He has made some great friends in the field of journalism like Ram Mahesh, Anand Vasu, KC Vijay Kumar and R. Kaushik to name a few. He also built a great rapport with cricketers like Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble. , Incidentally Balaji also saw the latest format grow into a massive brand, reporting the first five IPL finals.

Balaji's views on Coaching

He says in his own humble way that he is not qualified enough to talk about coaching. As a part of the Gen-Next Global tour to Dubai he took up the role of a coach. Balaji was forced to travel as the regular coach had to miss out due to personal reasons. Ashwin felt that Balaji could be an excellent coach and requested him to take up the mantel. Balaji feels that he has a decent basic understanding of the game. In one of the conversations that Balaji had with Rahul Dravid, the legend had expressed his opinion that one of the reasons for us not producing quality spinners is because of the fact that they are getting over-coached. The responsibility of the coach should be to assist the ward under him, with the knowledge of the game, sharpen his skills and then take a backseat.

Balajis Association with Ashwin

When Balaji first saw Ashwin he was 16-17 years old playing 1st division league for Spic. The first time that Balaji met Ashwin he knew that there was something that is special about this 16 year old who was losing his last few embers of chubbiness. He stood out more as a person than a cricketer. It was a little later that that Ashwin made his Ranji debut, Balaji would notice that here is a young cricketer who would never really get satisfied with the what he had achieved. Ashwin always wanted to stretch that little extra, to go a notch higher. This is indeed a quality that is the thing line differentiating between being very good and being world class. Balaji always knew that Ashwin was a class apart. Discussions would go on sometimes till 2 AM in the morning outside Balaji's house. What Balaji saw in Ashwin was an undiluted passion for the game. When Ashwin says he loves the game, he means every word of it. Balaji is quite strong in his opinion when he says that if a situation arises that there is no money tomorrow in the game of cricket, Ashwin would still be vying to play tennis ball cricket. Such is his passion for the game.

Fond memories and Incidents involving Ashwin

This goes back to the touring days of Ashwin as a Cricketer and Balaji as a cricket reporter. On one of the tours to Sri Lanka, Balaji was totally dependent on Ashwin for good vegetarian food. In Dambula, Ashwin will call Balaji whenever there was some good old kichidi or Maggi. Balaji says that Ashwin would go out of his way to take care of him. Both of them would converse a lot. In one of those conversations Balaji complained a little about other players. Ashwin in a jocular fashion would nudge his Balaji anna not to complain about the players since he might end up leading the same players one day in the near future. This incident remains etched in Balajis memory and so for us it remains a very big lesson. A true leader needs to be unbiased on his opinion about his people or team. He cannot be seen as being influenced by others thoughts and opinions. Thank you Balaji sir for sharing this incident with us so candid in your thoughts. Even in His early days into the Indian Cricket team Ashwin was very concerned about the facilities being provided to the cricketers, about the development of the game, coaching and other aspects of the game. Balaji would often wonder why Ashwin at such a tender age would think so deeply but then that's how leaders are made. We have just picked up another pearl. A leader not withstanding his age or experience has foresight and vision much more than his age. Always pay heed to such leaders and follow them.

Balaji's advice for Parents

As you enjoyed marbles, tops and kites in your childhood allow your child to play with marbles, tops and kites and let him enjoy his cricket the same way. It really does not matter if does not make it to the under-16 state team. It does not matter if he does not get an IPL contract. Balaji says that the day (if) his son decides to pick up the bat or for that matter any sport, it is his responsibility to see that the child gets best of sporting equipment and the very best of academies to train in. A parent should never be seen as trying to influence the coach or the selectors. Allow the kid to enjoy, express himself. As a parent your must be happy that your kid gave their full effort.

About the Coaching Methodologies being adopted at Gen-next

Balaji feels that the methodologies being adopted by Gen-next are refreshing. He feels that coaches here bring in innovation that is sadly missing in most of today's coaching institutes. He also feels that the modern game of cricket has taken rapid strides in terms of development. There is more stress that is being laid on the physical fitness of a player. Gen-next addresses this need as well. Balaji feels that addressing core issues that are specific to present day demands are vital for a coaching institute like Gen-next. Therefore when the charter for the institute was being drawn out, the founding principle of Gen-next would be that we are not here to just produce good cricketers but also good human beings. 

Straight Drive with our Young and Fascinating Interns

The success of any organization, especially a coaching institute is attributed to its robust and efficient back-end operational processes, a seamless training procedure, a very flexible and hands on management and most importantly a aggressive front end team. Exactly what we possess at Gen-Next and it is this young and aggressive street smart team of Front ending Team of Prasanth, Sekar and Sriram who we are featuring in our Straight Drive column today. They are our mouthpieces, who represent us in front of the outside world. This is the very team who bring in the children, letting the parents know about Gen-next, how we are different and how the children stand to benefit if they were to join Gen-next. Each of the above gentlemen are unique in their own ways and one thing that all of them have in common is their love for Ashwin and for the game of Cricket. This is what has brought them to Gen-Next. 

Meet Sriram, our intern and a man of few words, but when he talks, he makes full and complete sense.

Sriram is based out of Germany and he is here for a research study at IIT campus. Sriram has done his MS in Communications and multimedia

On His Innings at Gen-Next
Like all of us Sriram is an avid Cricket follower. Sriram came to Gen-next with a view to have a learning experience of how a Cricket Academy functions, how a star is made. He adds by saying that he wanted to know at the rudimentary level how to coach ten year olds. Sriram feels that while at other institutes there is an over emphasis on batting skills here at Gen-next it is all about the all round development of a cricketer. There have many other aspects of a professional set up that Sriram has picked up, finer nuances like Client Relationship Management. 

On His Thoughts about Ashwin:
Now this is the effect Ashwin leaves on you the moment you meet him, For Sriram, Ashwin comes across as a Next door guy, very simple down to earth and extremely approachable. Sriram rates the Bangalore match against the Aussies, the very best he has watched so far.

Up next we have Shekar: 

On His involvment with Gen-next

Shekar is an Engineering MBA graduate, and very much interested in sports management, He is involved in getting enrolments, and assisting the students to enrol for a chosen program.Currently Shekar is helping to get cricket academies in Chennai to participate in a Invitational under 14 tournament to be held from April 30th to May 28th. Shekar has played cricket for a brief period for Infosys in corporate tournaments. Shekar is a right arm off spin bowler. Times and Personal habits have changed post his involvement with Gen-next. For instance Shekar loves his sleep but post joining as an intern with Gen-next, he loves getting up early and rushing to the ground. That is exactly what a game of cricket does to you.

Tango with Ashwin:

It was in 2008 he heard about Ashwin first, and then met him first time in 2010 CSK jersey unveiling. He says that Ashwin comes across as being very candid and straight. Shekar added that Ashwin is very clear about his future plans, that of transforming Gen-next into a World Class Institute.  

Not many know that Shekar is a very good Stand-Up comedian.

Move on to the Young and Dashing Prasanth:

The first thing that hits you when you meet Prasanth is his lovely charming smile. Prasanth is a MBA graduate from ICFAI Bangalore. Prasanth has played League Cricket at the corporate level and is a left arm tearaway fast bowler.

Nostalgic Moments with Ashwin: 

Prasanth first met Ashwin at his house , through his cousin Rama who is a coach at Gen-next. Prasanth recalls that both Ashwin and Rama would play gully cricket together in the by-lanes of West Mambalam. Being a die hard fan Prasanth wanted to have a selfie moment with Ashwin. Wish fulfilled, Prasanth met Ashwin again after five long years, only to be fondly remembered by Ashwin. This is indeed very typical Ashwin style.

On His Role at Gen-next and his future plans:

At Gen-next Prasanth helps in enrolling the students and inducting them into the institute. He wants to contribute back to the game of cricket, a game he loves so much through his association with Gen-next. Marketing is his speciality and sports management his passion.

If you are interested in meeting up with any of these friendly blokes, just walk into the RKM Grounds in T.Nagar and ask for them. 

By the way summer slam is just a week away. Starts on April 10th. Rush before registration closes. A Lot of planning has been put into conducting this camp and interesting activities will make children love the game even more. 

Adieu from Gen-next till the next blog. Have a great week ahead

Straight Drive with Ramesh

Saare jahaan se achha hindostaan hamaraa

Hum bul bulain hai is kee, ye gulsitan hamaraa

Better than all the world, is our India

We are its nightingales and this is our garden

Yes we are proud to be Indians, We love our motherland and are extremely passionate about our country, wherever we are. We are indeed India's Nightingales and we chirp a melodious note, wherever we belong. At Gen-next we believe that Cricket is truly a global sport and encourage young cricketers from all across the globe to take up the sport. In the next few months you will see us morphing into an international institute with robust exchange programmes in place, that will cater to international audiences.

We began our blog this day in a very patriotic manner, in fact these lines tug the heart of every Indian residing in India and abroad. In this blog we are proud to feature Mr Ramesh who sent his son to be coached and mentored at Gen-next. It was indeed our pleasure chatting up with him in this edition of Straight Drive. Ramesh comes across as a very passionate Indian, like all of us, a doting parent who his eager to see his son realize his dreams, never for a moment losing out on those fun moments which is what we are about. Its now over to Mr. Ramesh and our friendly correspondent. 

A small introduction about yourself and your family

We are family of four. I work for a Swiss based Insurance company based out of Dubai as Head of Technology.My wife Anu has just re-initiated her career and works with an UK based operations firmWe have twins, Sanjay and Sruthi. They are studying in Grade X in Kings Al Barsha.  Sanjay and Sruthi are on a scholarship. Sanjay is on a cricket scholarship and plays for his school and other teams.

Every Indian is crazy about cricket. Where and how did your association with the game begin?

As rightly said, cricket runs in our blood and passion on the sport is beyond borders.My association with the game started at a very early age, when I used to watch lot of cricket from my childhood days.  I grew up watching the legendary players like Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, Sir Viv Richards, David Gower, Allan Border, Imran Khan, Clive Lloyd, Kris Srikkanth and the list goes on.I also grew up playing cricket in my school for in house and external tournaments which was one of the key motivating factors for the interest in the game. Being a natural left hander and especially during early days there were not much of left handers, it was always exciting to go out and play in the middle.

Gen-Next in Chennai and you are based in Dubai.  How did this happen? Meaning your son trained here so what made you to choose Gen-Next

My association with Gen Next can be termed in different ways.  Either you can term scientifically that likeminded people get connected irrespective of which geography they are based or good things are destined to happen from an optimistic point of view.It was also for the affinity which was there for Ashwin which was one of the key reasons. I cannot forget to thank Mr. Sudarshan, COO of GenNext for igniting the spark in establishing this wonderful relationship and ensuring its continued success.Gen Next was an obvious choice for a variety of reasons.  The key principles of Gen Next surrounding keeping it simple and constantly innovating on the training methods along with Brand Ashwin made it truly extraordinary.  The coaching staffs are a delight to work with and it’s a true combination of concrete / solid expertise with humility.  Obviously, spending every minute with Ash is a true gift for the boys. I was impressed with Gen Next for a variety of reasons and some of them are:

• Varied innovative techniques 
• Friendly and adaptability to all age groups
• Ashwin’s mentorship

Can you tell us a little about your son and his interest in cricket. At what level is he right now as far as the game of cricket is concerned?  Does he represent any team?

Sanjay is studying in Year X in Kings, Al Barsha based in Dubai. He is an all-rounder and plays for Kings and other teams. During his recent stint at Gen Next, Sanjay went through a transformation from a pace bowler to off spinner. The transition was made so seamless by his coach Srinivasan Sir and with ease, at the same time getting the best out of him.

We are keen to understand how coaching at Gen-Next has influenced you as a parent and your son as a cricketer. Can you share some wow moments at Gen-Next?

For me, cricket is my all-time passion.  The kind of individual focus and attention with a sense of discipline and commitment sums up the credibility of Gen Next. Each and every coaching and support staff are extremely knowledgeable and handle students across all age groups so effectively.The balance is also well struck in making the students sweat it out to gain something extraordinary and take them through that journey.As a parent, every penny invested in Gen Next has its own worth and quality to the core. Sanjay has evolved a lot after his exposure to Gen Next.  This has been across different aspects like the overall aspects of the game, physical fitness, regulated diet and getting exposed to match situations.To be honest, I was bit pessimistic when Sanjay wanted to become an off spinner as he was bowling good pace and getting his line right.When I watched him play a few matches in Gen Next, he was bowling off spin and that was a treat to my eyes.  I don’t have enough words to thank Sudarshan, Srinivasan Sir, Raman and entire staff at Gen Next.Whenever I happen to be in Chennai, I make it a point to go and spend some time there talking to Sudarshan and others.  It always gives me a warmth feeling talking to them and delight to see the kids getting coached in innovative ways.

Have you met Ashwin. If so when and what was it like meeting him for the first time?

Yes, I have met Ashwin.  I have come across Ashwin as a vibrant, shrewd and observing personality.  He is a down to earth and lively individual and extremely knowledgeable to talk. I have come across Ash as a person who speaks his mind and heart.

Can you relate some interesting anecdote involving you and Ashwin or your son and Ashwin

When Ash was conducting the cricket clinic in Dubai, was watching him closely.  To my surprise I was amazed how he remember the name of each and every kid and gave recommendations and suggested improvisations.  I used to sneak in between the sessions with a cup of black coffee and wanted to ensure he gets to drink something. Though some of the support staff and drivers did offer to carry the coffee, I made it a point to give it myself to Ash and that’s where the affinity came to the fore.What I did notice was the kind of regard and respect he shows to fellow humans floored me and truly this is the root of extraordinarily good culture.There was another instance where Ash and I were discussing about something, he mentioned if I request for something that should have been done yesterday. This just reminded me of how demanding I could be in my work life and how my peers / team would have felt.  This is just on the lighter side though.

Champions trophy only a few months away in fact just about two months away. Any guesses who will take the trophy home and why? Will South Africa shed their chokers tag finally. Can India reign supreme once again.

Obviously, beyond any doubt any Indian would want India to win Champions trophy.Whilst, I would fancy on India, there could be stiff competition from England, Australia and South Africa.  I also feel Bangladesh could be the underdogs.As far as South Africa is concerned, they are world class team and no doubt sometime you need luck and timing on your side to sneak through.  Could be a lucky year for South Africa!!!Beyond any doubt, India will reign supreme!!!

Cricket scenario in Dubai? And the coaching infrastructure there?

Cricket lovers are abundant in Dubai.  Dubai is truly multi-cultural and one of the vibrant places in the world. There are considerable number of cricket academies in Dubai and most of the schools have their own cricket teams. As far as coaching infrastructure is concerned, it has a combination of indoors and outdoors.  In summer, the coaching is more of indoors and other seasons, the weather conditions are favorable for outdoor sessions.There is a bit of dearth for Level 3 coaches and it’s a growing domain.

Your advice to both the parents and their budding young ambitious cricketers.

I always believe in “hanging in there” whatever the personal and professional situation could be. I also believe in keep hitting it hard until you get the desired results.I am not sure if I have the age and experience to advice, but certainly can recommend.My recommendation to parents is to understand your kids and current generation and exhibit patience and commitment, leading by example.  Support to your children by all means is the highlight who are the budding cricketers of the future.Ambitious cricketers are identified by virtue of their display of mental fitness / stability, continued hard work, receptive to failures and reacting positively and lastly setting bigger goals in order to scale greater heights.