Grooming gentlemen cricketers

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P. Balachandran is a true gentleman. He never fails to answer phone calls, and neither does he lose his cool when a best part of those anonymous callers pose a certain question — ‘When is the next selection camp?’

He dismisses them off politely, giving them the dates, and then adds a sentence, ‘Come to me if you want to learn, and don’t come to me if you think I can help you get selected to the state or national teams’.

Despite his straightforward nature, fine young men flock in from different corners of the state when the time arrives because they believe in the man who has been grooming gentlemen cricketers for the last 25 years.

At times, when big issues are made about players being dropped and more deserving ones not being selected to the state team, Balachandran, who has served as selector and coach of Ranji and south zone teams for years, just flashes an unpretentious grin.

“All I have to say is that no player should play for the sake of selection. It is for the love of the game that they should play. Moreover, I believe that there's a space for every player; if not here, then somewhere else,” says Balachandran.

In between the freewheeling chat, the veteran coach was also observing his trainees at nets in the corner of the Kochi Refineries cricket ground. He calls one of his boys after he had just completed a delivery and tells him to make a correction in the angle of the bowling arm.

“Giving corrections is like fine-tuning a player and that is what the coaches should be doing. But I am really sad that once the players reach the highest level, they don’t have anybody to point out their faults and suggest corrections,” he said.

“This is the true aspect of coaching, which is not just about planning the winning strategies,” he says. It is a philosophy that preaches a life of discipline and gratitude - not just while sweating it out on the field, but even after the last ball is delivered.

Meanwhile, he points his finger towards a lanky youngster who stepped forward at the nets. “He is a talented guy, he was very raw when he came to me, but the boy is picking up,” said Balachandran about the 6’4’’ standing Manu V. M., a name for the future.

“I insist on having boys who have finished their Plus-Two and once they are selected, I make sure they do their graduation. Sometimes, people ask me why I do such things, and all I can say is that maybe I am more of a fatherly coach,” he laughs.