PANJIM: Former India pacer Ashish Nehra has expressed his happiness at the performance of the State Ranji trophy team. Goa had just beaten Kerala by 7 wickets to snatch some valuable points.
Nehra who was invited to inaugurate the Panjim Gymkhana Members league said such tournaments were very good. It would be a great opportunity for the children of members to play and practice and improve their skills. Panjim Gymkhana also announced the setting up of a training academy for young talent ages 9 to 13 years. Anil Arolkar has been appointed the coach for the cricket training academy which is open to children across the state.
Nehra said he had played in the state in the 90s and had very good memories of the ground and he hoped a stadium would come up which would help in the promotion and improvement of the game. He said it was important to give it time, players from Goa were now playing in the IPL and this would continue to improve as facilities increased. Nehra pointed out that cricketing centers like Mumbai, Delhi had been around much longer which meant there were more players coming out of these places.
Later in the morning the matches in the second season of the Panjim Gymkhana Members League (PGML 2.0) tournament commenced.
Manoj Caculo, president of the Panjim Gymkhana and former India pace bowler Ashish Nehra, who was also the chief guest on the occasion, released colourful balloons soaring into the sky at the inaugural function, which was held just before the first match of PGML 2.0.
Owners of the six teams namely Iftikar Aga of Prescon Panthers, Tanmay Kholkar of Manas Mavericks, Shrinivas Dempo of Dempo Challengers, Ashwin Chandiok of Baale Tigers, Rajesh Dessai of RC Goa and Parind Nachinolcar of Priority Titans were at the inaugural ceremony.
Nehra, who represented Team India in the Test, ODI and T-20 formats, ceremonially bowled the first ball.
The PGML 2.0 will feature 19 matches, including the final game, which has been scheduled for February 5. Nearly all matches will be played over the weekend, with the exception of Republic Day on January 26, which will feature two games.
