Deccan Chargers delight for youngsters

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Getting to meet your favourite Indian Premier League stars and spend time with them is a dream thousands of young kids cherish.

While many find it hard to meet the players in person, the overseas players from the Deccan Chargers made sure they not only met their young admirers but passed on some cricketing lessons to the kids from a city school on Saturday morning.

The coaching session to promote the sport at the grassroot level was set up by Emirates, the international airline and team sponsor of the Chargers.

The budding cricketers took a little while to adjust to the fact that their coaches will be Chargers’ captain Kumar Sangakkara, speedster Dale Steyn, all-rounder Cameron White and team coach Darren Lehman and assistant coach Kanwaljit Singh.

The players did not was waste time and the kids were divided into groups. Lehman and Singh set up fielding drills while Steyn overlooked the fast bowling department. “Look to hit the stumps on a consistent basis.

The wicketkeeper need not move too much and the line needs to be accurate,” said the South African, who also showed how to grip the ball to bowl the outswinger.

Sangakkara was busy training a few wicketkeepers in the group in the far net while the middle net which was dedicated to batting was being observed by White.

“It is important for the kids to learn the right technique. I hope someone in the future would be the next MS Dhoni,” said Sangakkara. Coach Lehman thanked the sponsors. “It is a great gesture by Emirates. This session excites us; I hope the kids will represent India one day.”

However, the kids were not going to be let the opportunity miss and came up with some exciting questions in the interaction later.

With over 20,000 international runs under his belt Sangakkara was asked about the toughest bowler he faced and the key to play long innings.

“I think I only faced a few overs of Wasim Akram but that was pretty tough. Zaheer Khan was tough to face,” the former Sri Lankan captain said.

He also joked about his team mates dismissing him.

“Darren Lehmann got me caught out when the ball hit my front pad, but he still says I was out. Steyn has got me out a couple of times, once unluckily of a no-ball.

” In form Australian, White, who hit 78 against Pune to help Chargers register their first win, was questioned about the ways to deal with a yorker.

“You have to get back to the fundamentals of watching the ball and probably the most important point is to try and hit it straight.

If you try and across the line, you might get into a bit of trouble. The most important thing is to hit straight back down the pitch,” said White.

Lehmann spoke about handling the short-ball. “You have to make sure that you are watching the ball and not ducking our head away. And if you want to play the hook shot get inside the ball and play it at backward square.”