CHANDIGARH: At a time when all sporting activities have come to a halt due to the outbreak of the novel Covid-19 pandemic, former India wicketkeeper
Ajay Ratra has made the most of the ongoing
lockdown
and has completed an introductory level coaching course with
Cricket Australia
.
The 38-year-old, who is a Board of Control for Cricket in India (
BCCI) certified Level 2 coach told TOI, “BCCI and Cricket Australia had jointly conducted a course in 2017 and it was about to expire. I got an email to get it renewed. It was an online course with seven modules, which covers all aspects of the game.”
“When I cleared all of those, I received the certificate on April 6. Now, I am eligible for Cricket Australia's higher-level courses. I plan to go for them but right now the priority is to clear Level 3 at BCCI," added Ratra, who has worked with the Indian women's team and coached Assam in the latest domestic season.
Ratra, who had played six Tests and 12 ODIs for India, said the main aim was to use the lockdown phase productively.
“I will always like to keep myself upgraded. The more we explore different cricketing cultures, the better it is for us as coaches. With Cricket Australia, what I found interesting in one of the modules was that they want the coaches to tell their players what to do but not how to do it,” said Ratra, who has also worked extensively with India’s Test stumper,
Wriddhiman Saha at the National Cricket Academy during his rehab.