25th June is a historic date in the Indian Cricket calendar since India won the World Cup on this very day It is also significant as India played its first official Test Match at the Mecca of Cricket; Lord’s, under the captaincy of CK Nayudu in 1932. On this day, in the year 2004, Cricketforindia, India’s first cricket coaching website, was launched.

Cricketforindia.com is a site for all cricket lovers. It is a guide to assist you in all aspects of cricket. It provides on-line cricket coaching and expert advice to everybody including beginners, aspiring stars and also cricket-lovers. One can also view coaching videos and a wide range of interesting sections covering junior cricket, women’s cricket right up to test matches and ODIs along with live scores, text commentary, statistics, biographies, history and the laws of the game. One can enjoy fun quizzes, and trivia and a photo gallery with remarkable and memorable photos. Cricket Memorabilia and equipment can also be bought through the website at attractive prices.

VVS Laxman, one of India’s ace batsmen, contributes an exclusive monthly column on cricketforindia.com, wherein he states his views on matters concerning the game.

Cricketforindia.com sets out to instruct aspiring young cricketers in all aspects of the game.. Starting with the elementary basics such as grip and stance, it takes you on a journey through all facets of the skills needed to become, at first, a competent cricketer up to a star for the especially talented. It endeavors to bring out the potential in our young cricketers, who will eventually form the basis of future Indian international teams.

Our coaching and advisory services is further enhanced by regular ‘Ask the Expert’ sessions, in which young and older players put forth their questions to our distinguished panel by email and get their problems answered by people who have played the game at the highest level. Also the panel has a test umpire who can adjudicate where disputes may have arisen during competitive matches.

Cricketforindia.com panel consists of:-

It is intended that this comprehensive coaching manual will develop into a must for every student of the game and cover a comprehensive array of the sport’s aspects.

On fitness – Both mental and physical aspects are covered. How to reduce the mental pressure when you are trying to produce your best performance in the middle. How to keep your body in the best possible shape for the stresses and strains caused by modern day cricket.

On diet – This is related to fitness. A sensible balanced diet in essential to enable the young to grow to be strong and healthy. Maintenance of a good diet, combined with a structured exercise regime can often help to avoid the niggling injuries suffered by cricketers.

Cricket skills – This will cover batting, bowling, batting, fielding, wicket keeping and captaincy and umpiring.

There is text written by experts among current and ex-test cricketers, supported by coaching videos , which will build a comprehensive library of techniques on all aspects of crickets skills.

In addition to the foregoing, cricketforindia.com is a specialist cricket site, catering for Indian cricket lovers. A one stop-shop for all your information, fun things to do, world news, scores and inside stories

It intends to appeal to all cricket enthusiasts from children to senior citizens, both men and women, and is always welcome suggestions that can in anyway improve its content and presentation.

It is a sincere effort to get cricket coaching accessible on-line. It is targeted at the youth and provides extensive details and techniques about the game, imparted by our expert panel of legendary cricketers.

Prominent personalities such as Shri Sunil Gavaskar, Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, Bapu Nadkarni and Rahul Dravid have endorsed the website. The website is also affiliated to Maharashtra Board schools. With this cricketfrorindia is reaching out to children who have the will and determination to excel in cricket but are not able to get the right guidance to play the game.

Cricketforindia organizes cricket clinics and cricket quizzes for cricket lovers. The panelists guide you through the various aspects of batting, bowling, fielding, wicket keeping and fitness. The coaching sessions are followed by a Cricket Quiz. Prizes are distributed to the winners.

A ‘Cricket Clinic’ was organized for TCS Mumbai on 5th February 2005. The panelists guided 23 employees of the organization and their children through the various aspects of the game. The participants made the most of the opportunity to interact with as many as four internationals, a fitness consultant and a coach, in one setting.

The website plans to organize similar clinics for other organizations in the Corporate sector.

Cricketforindia also recently organized a three-day cricket quiz between Don Bosco, Matunga and New English School, Bandra. It was a grand success. The panelists gave away the prizes.

The website is an institution that celebrates and commemorates the heartbeat of the nation; Cricket. It is committed to guide, encourage and inspire the future of Indian cricket.

Profile: Ritika Hlranandani (Director), Cricket for India.

Ritika has over 10 years of experience in the IT industry and has been involved in preparing and implementing marketing strategies, for international organizations, positioning services and products in India and overseas market. Also identifying strategic partners and forming partnerships for them.

She had also set up her own successful company- Atlantic Crossing Pvt Ltd. the Indian arm of US based Atlantic Crossing LLC providing IT technology and marketing solutions to companies in the Europe, USA and India.

Ritika is adept in providing Project Management Advisory services. She possesses in equal amounts both entrepreneurial flair coupled with good solid business sense, and helped businesses achieve their goals in innovative ways, both faster and at a lower cost than they could on their own.

Ritika is also part of Cricket for India, a venture to give young students of the game cricket an opportunity to learn the mental and physical techniques of the game, get their queries answered on-line by international cricket personalities and make cricket coaching accessible to all.

EXPERT PANEL Cricketforindia.com : Ashok Mankad

Ashok Mankad first came into prominence by scoring a half-century as a teenager against the MCC for West Zone in 1963-64. A series of big scores over the years saw him get his break against New Zealand in 1969-70. He went in late in the order and then because of circumstances was pushed to the opening slot. He was an instant success in his new role against Australia, negotiating McKenzie and Connolly with ease and running up successive scores of 74, 8, 64, 68 and 97.

He had a fair amount of success on the tour of West Indies in 1971, striking up a good combination with ‘new boy’ Sunil Gavaskar with whom he shared partnerships of 68, 74, 72 and 123 (unbroken).

He did well enough but was dropped and was again considered for only one Test against England later that season. He did reasonably well in the series in Australia in 1977-78 (he headed the tour averages with 508 runs at 50.80). In first class cricket however Mankad has been in a class of his own. In the Ranji Trophy alone, he has scored 6619 runs (76.08) with 22 hundreds with a highest score of 265 against Delhi in the 1980-81 final.

EXPERT PANEL cricketforindia.com : Polly Umrigar. Ex Indian Cricket Captain

One of the all time greats of Indian cricket, he was a heroic figure from the late forties to the early sixties, almost always shining in a losing cause. Despite this, when he retired, he held the most important records - most Tests, most runs, most hundreds. In fact his records stood from 1962 to 1978 when Sunil.Gavaskar broke them.

A burly six footer, Umrigar was a commanding figure at the crease - whether batting, bowling, directing operations as captain or standing in his usual position at first slip. Umrigar excelled in full-blooded drives but he could also hook and pull powerfully. As a bowler, he was an accurate offspinner and could even open the bowling, sending down outswingers. He was a brilliant versatile fielder,

Either as batsman, bowler or captain, he helped shape the few Indian triumphs of his time. For 30 years he held the record of getting the highest score by an Indian on tour - 252 not out against Cambridge University in 1959. As a bowler, his finest hour was when he took 4 for 27 while helping India to defeat mighty Australia at Kanpur in 1959. A shrewd captain, he led India in eight Tests, winning two and losing two before he resigned the captaincy at Madras against West Indies in 1959 following a misunderstanding with the selectors.

He is only one of two Indian cricketers (Vinoo Mankad being the other) to score a century and take five wickets in an innings - a feat he achieved against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1962. Umrigar was the first Indian to hit a Test double century. After retirement, he continued to serve Indian cricket as chairman of the selection committee, tour manager and BCCI executive secretary.

EXPERT PANEL cricketforindia.com : Piloo Reporter, Ex. Intl. Umpire

Officiated in 14 Tests and 23 one-day internationals. One half of the first pair of ‘neutral’ umpires in Test cricket since 1912, when he and V. K. Ramaswamy did duty in the Test series between Pakistan and the West Indies in 1986-87. India’s sole umpiring representative in the 1992 World Cup.

EXPERT PANEL cricketforindia.com : Dr. Aijaz Ashai

Dr. Aijaz Ashai is a physiotherapist, physical trainer, instructor, writer and sportsman, all rolled into one. An alumnus of the National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped, Kolkata, he has been associated with spurts for the last seven years.

An expert on injury prevention in sports, treatment of ‘sporting’ injuries, cardiac rehabilitation, sports physical fitness training and physiotherapy treatment, he is the Managing Director and Owner of the Health Asset Fitness and Sports Medicine Rehabilitation Centre in Mumbai. Cricketers, footballers, badminton and tennis players and athletes train at his center.

Dr. Aijaz has had stints as physio and physical trainer of the Mumbai and Delhi Ranji Trophy teams, the Mumbai Police cricket team and also the Mahindra United Football team. He has been associated with the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association as well. He has treated and implemented physical fitness programmes for sports personalities like cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar and tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi. Current India players Virender Sehwag, Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra and Amit Bhandari are some of the prominent cricketers who have benefited from his advice.

He has conducted several fitness and training camps, including the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Summer Camp in 1999 and the Delhi Cricket Association’s camps for the under-25s and under-17s in 2002-03.. He has also worked with the Bishen Singh Bedi Coaching Trust in Ludhiana and Chandigarh in 2001 and 2002, and the Himachal Cricket Association in for 2003 - 2004.

His writings have appeared in a host of publications like the limes of India, Asian Age, the Afternoon Despatch and Courier, Navbharat Times and Gujarat Samachar. TV channels like ESPN-STAR, Doordarshan and SET Max have interviewed him as an expert on fitness- related matters. He also conducts a Personal Fitness Instructor course twice a year, at his Health Asset Fitness Academy.

A man who believes in practising what he preaches, Dr. Aijaz is a keen cricketer, having represented his home state Jammu and Kashmir. He currently plays in the ‘A’ division of the Kanga League in Mumbai.

At cricketforindia.com, the dynamic Dr. Aijaz is focusing on the areas of fitness, injury prevention and treatment, aspects which in today’s times are as critical for an aspiring cricketer as the ability to bat, bowl and field.

EXPERT PANEL cricketforindia.com : S. P. Bhatia

An opening batsman and wicketkeeper, he represented Mumbai in the under - 19 Cooch Behar trophy in the 1940s. In later years, he opened the batting with the illustrious Vijay Merchant in club cricket and coached many an accomplished cricketer, like Ashok Mankad, Budhi Kunderan and Sharad Hazare.

Devendra Prabhudesai - Content Manager

Like every Mumbai boy, Devendra Prahhudesai (Born: 1976) wanted to be a cricketer. In his childhood, he exasperated one and all with his passion for the game, which most of the time bordered on the insane. He first attended a coaching camp at the age of 12 and realized fairly quickly that while the spirit was willing, the talent was weak. He compensated by winning an inter - collegiate cricket quiz competition at 17.

He completed his MA (Social Work) from TISS, Mumba in 1988.

Like a true Indian, his ‘second innings’ has been a lot better than the first. It began in August 2000, when fate led him to Sunil Gavaskar’s Professional Management Group.

His objective mirrors that of the website - To make cricketforindia.com the best sports coaching site in the world.