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Inspiration can come from many quarters but when legends come calling to give a pep talk to young cricketers the atmosphere simply becomes mesmerising.
The players from Maharashtra Premier League outfit Kolhapur Tuskers, owned by the Punit Balan Group (PBG), had such a memorable experience when West Indies' fast bowling legend Courtney Walsh visited the team's training session at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune. Walsh, the first man to take 500 Test wickets, spent considerable time with the players, speaking to them about his own career and even answering their questions apart from interacting with the group's Chairman and Managing Director Punit Balan on ways to develop the cricket ecosystem even further with the Kolhapur Tuskers team being the nucleus. Addressing the players during the interaction, the 61-year-old Walsh emphasised the importance of controlled aggression. "Aggression without control can be detrimental. Sometimes the batsman wins, sometimes the bowler. But if you can control the aggression and execute the plans 80-90% well, then you will succeed more often than not," the former West Indies captain, who finished his career with 519 Test wickets and 227 ODI scalps, said. Speaking about Walsh's visit to the training group and his interaction with the players, Punit Balan said, "It was a pleasure for everyone at the Punit Balan Group to welcome the legendary Courtney Walsh and listen to his words of wisdom. We also had a fruitful discussion on how we can use Kolhapur Tuskers to promote the game across the state and also identify and nurture talented youngsters." Former India international Kedar Jadhav-led Kolhapur Tuskers finished runners-up in the inaugural edition of the Maharashtra Premier League last year and have further bolstered their squad by adding experienced all-rounder Shrikant Mundhe and hard-hitting wicket-keeper batsman Aniket Porwal in the recently concluded auction as they prepare to lift the trophy this year. Kolhapur Tuskers squad: Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawane, Sachin Dhas, Harsh Sanghvi, Kirtiraj Wadekar, Aniket Porwal, Hrishikesh Daund (U-19), Yogesh Dongare, Taranjit Singh, Atman Pore, Akshay Darekar, Shreyash Chavan, Yash Khaladkar, Nihal Tusamad, Manoj Yadhav, Umar Shah, Harshal Mishra (U-19), Sumit Markali, Siddharth Mhatre, Shrikant Mundhe.(ANI)
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