Bedade gears up for fresh innings

VADODARA: Former international cricketer Atul Bedade, it seems, loves to don many hats. Having retired from cricket in 2003, Bedade has dabbled into different departments of cricket and he recently surprised everyone when he appeared for curator's certification course.
Bedade became the first ever ex-international cricketer to appear and pass the curator's certification course.
Better known as sixer-man during his playing days, Bedade has assumed one or the other role at Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) after he retired. Nobody though, expected him to take up pitch curator's course.
"I have been involved in cricket for decades and I want to learn every aspect of it. Preparing pitches is one of the most important and toughest jobs and I always wanted to learn it professionally. So, I sought permission from BCA to apply for the course," Bedade told TOI.
He took the 19-day pitch curator's certification course by Board of Control for Cricket in India (Bin April this year. Bedade stood third in the exams jointly with a Jharkhand participant among the 30 persons, who appeared for the course.
"There are so many aspects of pitch preparations and wrong notions about it. Despite having so many cricket grounds, the quality of wickets in Vadodara is not up to the mark and it affects domestic cricket to an extent. If given an opportunity, I would love to contribute to pitch preparations," Bedade said.
After retiring from cricket in 2003, Bedade served as selector with BCA and also became match referee for four years. He was also a member of cricket improvement committee (CIC).