Dubai: Renowned coach Gary Kirsen who guided India to World Cup victory in 2011 gave two budding UAE cricketers a feel of his highly rated coaching methods at his cricket academy in Cape Town.
Kirsten picked two promising cricketers fifteen-year-old Utkarsh Agrawal and 17-year-old Riyan Mohammad from the UAE-based Level 3 coach Kobus Olivier’s elite training squad. Olivier, who is the owner of Pro Coach Middle East academy has entered into an agreement with Kirsten to fly out players from here to Kirsten’s academy.
Two weeks ago, Kirsten flew down to UAE and visited five of the GEMS Schools to groom young cricketers.
Speaking to Gulf News, Olivier said: “It is indeed a big boost for the youngsters here that Kirsten has taken an interest in spotting talent from here and also include them in his high performance training camp in South Africa. Utkarsh and Riyan who underwent training in Cape Town have come back as better players.”
Riyan has opened for UAE Under-19 team while Utkarsh has been performing consistently. The players narrated their experience in Cape Town. “We were right away told that the objective of the camp is to lift our game to a different level. What we experienced in the next few days were remarkable as the camp started with physical screening and fitness assessment at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. We were put through the most modern gymnasium and a battery of tests to study our endurance. We were given a report on the training programme to be followed in the coming weeks,” said Riyan.
Utkarsh was delighted with the skills assessment and video sessions. “We got to showcase our skills with the bat, ball and in the field, all under camera and we were provided an accurate assessment of our abilities and what we needed to focus during the week,” said Utkarsh, who then along with Riyan got one-on-one sessions with Kirsten and Ryan Cook, son of Test star Jimmy Cook, who is the Head Coach of the Gary Kirsten Academy.
The three-hour session with other trainees, which included the creation of a game plan for a variety of bowlers and exporting skills learned into match-like-competion, also excited the trainees. The players also underwent a mental upskilling session with the GKCA performance psychologist Tom Dawson Squib.
“This session had topics like managing pressure, dealing with expectation and goal setting. It was mainly to optimise our mental processes to gain better on the cricket field but off it as well,” said Riyan.
This was also followed by a hike up the iconic Table Mountain at the break of dawn. “Climbing the Platteklip Gorge path to the top of Table Mountain was physically demanding as well as mentally testing, but it gave us a panoramic view of Cape Town. It was an unforgettable experience and in the end Derek Mitchell, one of coaches told us that climbing the mountain shows the mental toughness required to overcome a challenge and that we should apply this into a cricketing context to deal with challenges we face,” said Utkarsh.
Commenting on Riyan and Utkarsh, Kirsten said: “Riyan and Utkarsh had a positive and rewarding experience with us at our academy. The time spent gave them the opportunity to learn more about their games and to get to understand a way of life in South Africa.”
