“The Coimbatore District Cricket Association (CDCA) has certainly set a standard for the other districts to follow. The level of cricket has shot up so much that it is time for it to compete with Chennai,” said R.I. Palani, the Honorary Joint Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.
Speaking at the 56th Annual Day celebration of the CDCA at the Velumani Ammal kalyana mandapam here on Saturday, Mr. Palani urged the CDCA head D. Lakshminarayanaswamy and his strong army to march forward in their efforts in setting up an international stadium.
“The city is definitely on a par with Chennai and can easily host international matches. It has the best weather, solid infrastructure, great connectivity, brilliant administrators and plenty of talent. The only requirement is a 15-acre square piece of land. I think the CDCA must start working on it. Coimbatore must start producing cricketers as Chennai does. Right now it is only a handful. The count from here must be more,” he said.
Mr. Palani said that the CDCA can also look at bringing in two guest players from the Chennai league to play in Coimbatore.
“It can increase the level of competition. Also, start promoting private academies. There must be at least 50 or 60 of them and, if each one of them produces one player then Coimbatore will have a strong pool. Lakshmipathy Balaji (former India cricketer) came from one such academy in Chennai.”
R.S. Ramasaamy, Honorary Assistant Secretary, supported his views.
“Coimbatore cricket has hit a purple patch. They have been winning everything in sight. It has excellent cricketers in Koushik, Jagadeesan, Hari Nishanth to name a few. It has been an excellent journey for the team and I must congratulate the CDCA for its great effort.”
Mr. Lakshminarayanaswamy agreed it was a good year for CDCA. “All the age group boys are doing well this season. They will bring laurels to Coimbatore.”
He requested the parents to allow their wards to be a little away from their studies and play cricket and thanked the office-bearers who had worked hard the whole season.
Later in the day, CDCA rewarded the young men for their hard work during the year.
