My Maiden Cricket Tour Diary : Day 2

04 January 2012

Reaching Mumbai and Practice with Ex-Test Cricketer: Mr. Pravin Amre 

Train journey was absolutely fantastic. We all (my school cricket team) have been training together for quite some time now but we all were surprised to find different qualities each of us has. We all 18, including our coach and manager for the tour were sitting together and each of us sharing our own experience, was a wonderful feeling. Azar Sir, was sharing interesting stories from his own playing days. Further, he was sharing his valuable experience about the conditions we will be facing in Mumbai in terms of the weather, pitch and some points about the players approach from Mumbai. He is being a great teacher and motivator for all of us and we all are fortunate to have him as our coach.

Train was late by 45 mins. and we reached Mumbai around 09:30 am at Bandra Station. “Wow! finally we are in Mumbai…!” We have finally reached our destination, which we have been waiting for quite some time now. Bus was arranged for our transportation from station to our Hotel. We reached hotel around 10:30am. And we all were spellbound with our staying facilities. We are staying at Kohinoor Elite Hotel, in Kohinoor City, Kurla. We were greeted by all the staffs and we were given our room keys and they escorted us through the corridors of the hotel to our rooms.

Once we all were in our rooms, we were informed for a Team Meeting at 11am in room no 305, our coach and manager’s room. We discussed the plan for the day. We had our lunch at 01:00pm. As per our schedule, we were supposed to report at ground by 03:45pm for our last practice session before we play our matches. So, we changed and had our brunch and we all reported at Cricket India Academy home ground. The ground is near our hotel, so we all walked down. Our session was special because, Ex-Test Cricketer Mr. Pravin Amre spent around 2 hours with us. We all were excited and at the same very anxious to the fact that we will be rubbing shoulders with a Test Cricketer. But after the whole session we felt that, he made us feel so relaxed and comfortable that we never realized that we actually spent time with an Ex-Test Cricketer.

Session with Pravin Sir was special. Pravin Sir, spent time with us and explained minute details of Batting, Bowling and Fielding techniques. He spent time individually with every one of us and he was patient in hearing and answering our queries. He shared his first Cricket Tour experience and we were all amazed that we are also experiencing the same. Pravin Sir also emphasized on the importance of practice and why we should pay attention to our practice sessions. He said that we should concentrate in our practice also as we do in matches, as how we practice will reflect how we play in the matches. After the session, we had a group photograph and I am really happy to share the same with you all.

Step By Step Cricket School Team with Mr. Pravin Amre and Cricket India Academy Officials
When Cricket India Academy officials informed about us regarding this tour, we all were excited to the fact that we will be travelling to Mumbai to play few matches, that’s it. But when we are experiencing the moment, it’s really great feeling, I don’t have any words to describe this feeling at present. This moment is very special for all of us and I am sure it will stay fresh as the present moment for rest of our lives. Thank You Cricket India Academy.........:)

Now it’s time for our match. Until next time……..

Happy Cricket Touring!

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