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Rajasthan Royals first IPL team to open academy in India's north east region

Dubai - The Academy is based in Guwahati's Barsapara stadium

As part of its commitment to harnessing potential, and grooming young talent across India, Rajasthan Royals, in partnership with the Assam Cricket Association, on Tuesday announced the launch of the State Cricket Academy, Assam, powered by Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.

The IPL franchise has announced their first academy in the North East, which is in line with their vision of discovering, nurturing, promoting and providing a platform to young talent.

The Academy is based in Guwahati's Barsapara stadium and will cater to young cricketers (men and women) across Assam and other north-eastern states.

The Royals, through this academy, will also help develop an elite group of Assam cricketers through a complete training and education programme including both on and off the pitch essentials, ensuring their all-round development.

The academy will also see knowledge and training imparted by the RR expert coaching team to the coaches of the Assam Cricket Association to aid them in improving the overall value chain of coaching.

Commenting on the partnership and the opportunities it brings to all parties, Rajasthan Royals Chairman Ranjit Barthakur, said: “Development has always been the essence of the Royals’ Cricketing operations and this partnership with the ACA is yet another step in the right direction. After having successfully launched and run youth programmes in Jaipur, setting up academies across the country was something that was always on the cards for us. I'm delighted to start our North East journey by setting up this academy in Guwahati. With our partnership with ACA, we aim to keep the whole of the North-east in mind, wherein we aim to bring in around 1000 cricketers through the system, who will be capable of playing at the highest level with inputs from the RR team.”

The Assam Cricket Association have expressed their delight at this partnership.

Romen Dutta, president, Assam Cricket Association, said that the prized partnership would go a long way in producing quality cricketers from Assam.

Meanwhile, Riyan Parag, the young Assam Ranji Trophy player who plays for Rajasthan Royals, said: "I'm absolutely delighted about the launch of this cricket academy in Guwahati. I have witnessed first-hand the passion and talent that exists in the region and I have no doubt that the academy kids will benefit greatly from the Royals brand of cricket coaching. The academy will be fantastic for the budding cricketers in the region."

The Royals, through this partnership, will create a detailed plan and layout of the academy functioning - providing quality control and support for the players and the coaching staff.

The academy will be the nucleus for cricket development in the entire North East. The plan will then move on to be implemented in the further academies to be set up across India including one to be launched in the near future in Rajasthan.

The Jaipur-based franchise will set up development pathways for elite players through participation opportunities in matches against the RR youth sides and through involvement in the RR practice sessions.

The top elite players will also have the opportunity to be part of the Rajasthan Royals trials ahead of the next auction.

The Assam Cricket Association will be in charge of the day-to-day operations including the management of the resources. The ACA will also build the infrastructure for the academy which will include the ground and the other requisite facilities.