Patna (BiharTimes):  The International Organisation for Health and Sport Advancement (IOHSA) is a charitable body aiming to develop the technical aspects of the youngster and also to promote education and all-round personal development.

Dr Samir Pathak, the founder, is an Indian origin surgeon based in the UK.Pathak was a talented cricketer having previously represented England Universities in 2004 as a wicket-keeper. Gen-Next Cricket Institute in Chennai, the development of R Ashwin, the talismanic Indian all-rounder, and IOHSA have entered a tie-up to support the development of promising underprivileged youngsters. IOHSA has previously facilitated 12 young cricketers to come to the UK to various schools and clubs across the country over the last 3 years, including the two young prodigies Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan.

IOHSA was launched formally on 4 July 2014 at the House of Lords in London. Among those present at the event were Sachin Tendulkar, DilipVengsarkar, and Farokh Engineer as well as the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Ranjan Mathai. A tie-up between the Vengsarkar Cricket Academy (VCA) and IOHSA already exists where one cricketer from the VCA visits Cheadle Hulme School in Manchester every summer for 6 weeks. Other notable cricketers who have contributed greatly to the success of the scheme include Saba Karim and Nilesh Kulkarni.

Last summer Ramakrishnan Natarajan, who is pursuing a B Com degree in Chennai and is a trainee at the Gen-Next Cricket Institute, was brought to England for a 10-day stint at one of the top cricket schools in England, King’s College, Taunton.The experience opened his eyes to a world of possibilities, and that confidence and temperament-wise, he is now in an entirely different space. “It was a unique experience for me and an eye-opener,” says Ramakrishnan. “The day after I landed, I hit the ground running. First, it was about strength and conditioning, and working out at the gym. I had one-on-one net sessions, and then played seven matches giving me a great deal of confidence.It was a different experience from the point of view of the conditions, the pitches etc. While the bounce was predictable, there was lot of movement and as an opening batsman playing the new ball, it was a priceless education for me.”

R Ashwin said, “Myself and Samir both felt that a short session in the UK would benefit the youngsters tremendously. Going forward, we are planning to send two players every year, with the focus on the 16-17 age group. From now on, we also want to invest three years in each of these players who will be travelling to the UK so that it is a more tailored exercise, and so that we can monitor the progress of these individuals better.”

However, opportunities do not necessarily mean a flourish of quality cricketers queuing for national selection, but that isn’t quite the aim. The objective is to prepare cricketers with potential for the myriad challenges ahead, and going by Ramakrishnan’s experiences, that is well on its way to being fulfilled.