Noida:
Insisting that the Indian cricket has a bright future, former captain Chandu Borde said India can easily field two national teams because of the abundance of talented players in the country.
"Today, we have so much talent in our country that we can easily field two teams," said Borde today while inaugurating a cricket academy named after him at a school here.
"Indian cricket has a very bright future," he added.
Borde, who served as the chairman of the national selection committee twice, said because of the overhaul of domestic cricket present day players get more opportunities to showcase their potential.
"However, players nowadays get more opportunities to showcase their talent because of the league system in the Ranji trophy. In our days, it was knockout format, not many players could get more than one opportunity to prove themselves," he said.
Borde said cricket academies across the country, like the one he inaugurated today, are also helping in grooming young talent.
"The academies come in to help in spotting and grooming young talent. It is good that many former cricketers, including Ranji (Trophy) players, are associated with schools and colleges in one way or the other to develop the game," he said.
Borde felt unlike in the past Indian cricketers are now vastly improved fielders .
"In our days we did not have anybody training us specifically in fielding," said Borde, who represented India in 55 Test matches.
Former India opener Chetan Chauhan agreed with Borde and said the Indian Premier League (IPL) had a big role to play in improving the fielding standards of Indian players.
"Nobody today hesitates to dive, take a tumble, attack the ball while fielding," he said.
"Previously, international cricket meant players mainly from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madras (now Chennai) and Kolkata. Nowadays, the Indian team has players from many small cities," said Chauhan, who was the guest of honour at the inauguration.
Asked about the ongoing debate around BCCI's reluctance to come under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Chauhan said: "Why just BCCI, all sports bodies in the country should be brought under the RTI. After all, these bodies are run with public funds. But then, that is my personal view and not that of the DDCA."
