Bhubaneswar: Rahul Dravid’s appointment as Team India’s head coach is a welcoming step. Young players will benefit the most from his presence. The green room environment would also be very friendly, said ESPNcricinfo Editor-In-Chief, Mr. Sambit Bal, during the sports session held on the 89th birth anniversary of Pradyumna Bal.
Mr. Bal said that England and some other countries have selected separate teams for the three formats and it will be good if India also adopts the same process of selection. India is going to play another T20 World Cup and before that, they need to have a separate and special team, he added.
Giving his opinion, he said, In India, around 60-80 million people watch T20 cricket. So its popularity has grown unreasonably. When asked about Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar’s recent comment on conflict among Indian players, he said, “There are some reports of this on social media. It would not be right to discuss them too much.”
Pakistan’s fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi had performed outstandingly against India. He bowled out Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul following which Team India could not set a competitive total, he mentioned.
Joining as the chief guest, Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey, Chairman of Odisha Hockey Promotion Council, said that the sports infrastructure is very insignificant in our time. With the change in time, all sports, both public and private, are being given priority. This is a good sign. Nowadays astroturfs are common in every game as the government has provided so many facilities.
“Thanks to the encouragement of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Indian hockey team has been fortunate enough to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Though I had played over 400 matches for the country, it was very unfortunate for me not to have played a single match in Bhubaneswar,” he said.
Joining as the keynote speaker, K Ravi, the Resident Editor of Bhubaneswar edition of The Statesman, said all universities should become hubs for sports. Citing the example of KIIT University, he added that a lot of Olympians have emerged because of KIIT varsity. He further mentioned that KIIT houses world-class infrastructure for sports.
Senior sports journalist Sambit Mohapatra said, that the Indian team’s performance has been quite disappointing. As Indian players have been playing back-to-back tournaments for the last few months, they are not getting adequate rest to improve their game further. “Keeping IPL in focus, the BCCI is emphasising on T20 cricket World Cup. Following this, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is being played behind the Ranji Trophy, which is not good for cricket,” he said.
Pragativadi Senior Sports journalist Manoranjan Das also took part in the discussion while senior sub-editor, Lalitendu Pattnaik, delivered the welcome speech. At last, sports journalist, Saroj Barik delivered the vote of thanks.
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