Cricket India Academy participant sharing his experience of meeting Cricket Australia Players at Delhi Coaching Clinic


My Extraordinary Experience [The Delhi Tour]
             
               OH MY GOD!!!! My happiness knew no bounds after hearing the brilliant news. I was selected for the Delhi one day camp organized by Cricket India Academy [CIA]. This was not an ordinary camp. It was a camp with the Australian Cricket players currently playing for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India. This was a golden opportunity and I was surely not going to miss out on this. I grabbed this opportunity. I convinced my parents quite easily. There were ten children going to Delhi from Mumbai. I felt good to be one of them. I could not wait for this golden day to arrive.
               Finally the day arrived [19th March].At the Airport I could see a wide smile on each and everyone's face which was an indication that all were filled with happiness and joy. I, myself being excited, could not wait to go to Delhi. I bid goodbye to my father and we all entered the airport. As I entered, I felt confident that I could manage on my own in Delhi. After waiting for a pretty long time we finally boarded the Air India flight. We were all set to take off. We arrived in Delhi after arduous and tiring journey. We stayed at a business hotel named "The President". The whole day was a free day. We all played, watched television, talked and enjoyed ourselves. The day passed without anyone of us noticing it.  
                I knew that the next day was a big one and I was filled with excitement. I woke up next morning with a dream to meet Michael Clarke, the captain of the Australian team. I desperately wanted him to be there so that I could give him a drawing made by me. Firoz Shah Kotla Stadium was about a five minute walk from our hotel. The most boring and hated part of our journey was when we were kept waiting outside the enormous stadium for more than two hours. We all were relieved when we were finally called inside the stadium. There were children from Jaipur and Thane too. Firstly we all were made to sit and watch the Australians train in the nets.
              When it was getting boring, our coaches called us to play pair cricket. No sooner did we start playing, than the Aussies arrived and joined in the wonderful game of pair cricket. We all enjoyed ourselves. We were divided into three groups and my group played with Nathan Lyon, Moises Henriques, Ed Cowan, Philip Hughes and Matthew Wade. Of all these cricketers, I found Lyon the friendliest. We could talk to him freely. He also acted funnily and made the game interesting. After this fantastic and splendid game, we had an autograph session in which each player came out of the dressing room and signed autographs for everyone. This ended over soon and we went back to our hotel. We ate lunch and after some time left for the airport. I reached home 11:30 in the night. I went to sleep on my cozy and comfortable bed thinking about the coaching clinic. The time spent with the players is a precious time. I would always cherish these happy moments and will never ever forget this amazing experience. I WOULD THANK CRICKET INDIA ACADEMY & CRICKET AUSTRALIA FOR THIS CAMP AND I AM WILING FOR MORE SUCH CAMPS.


Jai Vanvari
Cricket Education Program Participant
Podar Sports Academy, Santacruz

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