Venkatapathy Raju to coach ICC Americas Combine team

The Former Indian left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju will join the panel of high caliber coaches to select and train the "ICC Americas Cricket Combine" squad. This combined team will play in the West Indies Cricket Board s (WICB) domestic 50-overs' tournament in January 2016. The best performing player of this team will get opportunities to appear for the trial for Caribbean Premier League (CPL) teams. In the coaching panel, Raju will join former West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh and internationally renowned American fielding coach Mike Young. They will select the best players from the region and train the squad for the tournament.

There are two phases to get selected in this Americas combine team. Phase 1 is an open trial. All eligible players in the Americas region can appear in this trial which going to take place at the World Sports Park in Indianapolis from September 18 to 21. The best players from Phase 1 will be invited to attend Phase 2 from September 24 to 27, after which the ICC Americas team will be selected. Some players identified through previous ICC Americas events will be invited to attend Phase 2 automatically.

Raju, Walsh and Young will be assisted by six other coaches from Associates and Affiliates of the ICC Americas region. Spotting budding talent is nothing new for this former India and Hyderabad cricketer. After retiring from international cricket he became a member of India's national selection panel. Later he coached of Hyderabad team. Raju was also a Vice President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), and most recently he worked as a Development Officer for the Asia region of the ICC s Development Programme.

While announcing Raju's name for this post, the head of ICC's Global Development Tim Anderson said, "Raju has had a long and distinguished career as an international player, selector, coach and administrator, and is now an important member of the ICC s development team. It's therefore great that he is able to assist this important project in the America s region, in what is an example of the integrated approach the ICC is now taking to assist cricket s global development.

For Raju, it is an exciting prospect to work for cricket in USA. I played for a couple of seasons, mainly in the Washington and New Jersey areas, and therefore have already seen first-hand the talent that exists in the Americas Region. I can t wait to work with Courtney, Mike and the other coaches to help the players improve their skills, in what really is an exciting initiative for the development of the game, he said.

(With inputs from USACricketers.com)

(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)