Bangalore: Sports in India has now found new vigor than ever before. Indian Cricket in particular has got a shot in its arm with FG PowerPlayer – India’s First Cricket Scholarship. A joint initiative by Padma Shri Gautam Gambhir and Sports technology platform, Funngage.com, this is the first ever in the Indian cricket scenario where boys and girls of 12-24 years of age group stand a chance to be awarded with 5-year Cricket Development Scholarship and 3-week overseas training.
This March, the First batch of FG PowerPlayers, 33 Cricketers were awarded their Scholarships by ßthe Legendary Cricketer Gautam Gambhir and Karan Singh, Founder & CEO, Funngage.com in a high-voltage ceremony held at New Delhi. Out of 33 boys, 9 cricketers are finds of Karnataka State Cricket Association. Likhit Bannur, Sachin NS, Macneil Noronha, Mashooq Hussain, Angadraj Hittalamani, Jayesh N Babu, Azaan Thota, Vidwath Kaverappa and Ruchir Joshi have all earned themselves a well-deserved 5-year Scholarship and most of these boys are also part of the 15-cricketer contingent about to fly overseas for a 3-week intensive training.
Launched in August, 2018, Funngage team toured 17 cities across 10 states and conducted more than 5500 Stage 1 Video trials. Each candidate was let to play 12 deliveries on the center wicket and 5 HD Cameras placed intuitively around the turf recorded HD videos of every delivery played. Every candidate was provided with his or her 12 ball performance videos on their Funngage profile accessible through Website or App (Google/iOS) and also sent to the best coaches of India. These renowned caches who have offered India around 35 international players meticulously assessed every candidate through video analysis. All assessment sheets were shared with the respective participants as well for their personal use and self- assessment. After a system generated cut-off, a few more than 700 made it to the Stage 2 – Advanced Trials, where the coaches watched every candidate closely as they played 24 deliveries or 4 overs each. The Final Stage before the Scholarship, Residential Camp was held at Neelkanth Group of Institutions, Meerut, where 110 boys across India attended a grueling 14-day camp.
With legendary coach, Mr. Arun Bhardwaj , credible names from the cricketing fraternity such as Samuel Jayraj, coach of KL Rahul, decorated umpire, K. Barathan and Biju Nair, level 3 BCCI and Ranji Trophy coach, were a part of the camp who personally assessed every talent. Also, HD Ackerman, former South African player, commentator and now the Director of Coaching, Guildford Grammar School, Perth was present and instilled great cricketing spirits in every player. HD, along with the coaches conducted regular practice sessions and ensured that the training received by the players, were of international standards. Every selected cricketer got to play at least 5 matches which were tracked LIVE and digitally scored on the home-grown Sports Technology Platform, Funngage.com.
The chosen few were the First Batch of India’s First Cricket Scholarship – FG PowerPlayer and were awarded –
1. Free of cost Cricket Coaching at any Indian cricket academy for 5 years
2. Free of cost Cricketing Equipment for 5 years
3. Free of cost Medical Support along with Sports Physiotherapy Sessions at Funngage’s wellness partner and hospitals across India
4. Free of cost Participation in Cricket Matches and Tournaments across India
5. Free of cost periodic Cricket Camps by Experts for Exposure and Training
6. Free of cost overseas Training for 3 weeks, this includes Visa Fee, Return Air Fare, Accommodation, Trainings, Nutrition Sessions, Injury Management, and Matches with Local Clubs etc.
