Ajay Ratra has entered a select club of Test cricketers, who have achieved the distinction of completing BCCI’s Level 3 coaching course, the highest certification in the country. Ratra was among the four former players, who passed the BCCI Level 3 course after undergoing a rigourous one-year training module. Lalchand Rajput, Sunil Joshi, Balwinder Sandhu, M Venkatramana, Robin Singh, Raghuram Bhat, Pravin Amre, Arshad Ayub, Vijay Bhardwaj and Bharat Arun are among the other India internationals, who have attained Level 3 certification.
Ratra has become the first Indian cricketer to have cleared Level 3 after 2007. The course was conducted under the supervision of National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman and after a gap of 12 long years.
“Apart from cricketing skills, a lot of attention was given to soft skills like leadership. As head coaches, we were taught about how to get the best out of the cricketers and support staff, decision making, and how to use data.
“Skill-wise, you have to modify your coaching style as per the strengths and weaknesses of a particular player. The kind of shots he can play and what shot he can avoid. If you are not able to hit sixes, then work on adding more strokes that can help you get boundaries,” said 41-year-old Ratra, who played six Tests and 12 ODIs for India.
The former India wicketkeeper-batter has been involved in coaching for the past eight years and was the head coach at Assam, Punjab and most recently Uttar Pradesh.
He has also worked with IPL franchise Delhi Capitals and has been part of multiple training camps at the National Cricket Academy.
Gujarat’s Hitesh Majumdar and Tejas Versani, and current Mumbai head coach Omkar Salvi, also cleared the Level 3 exam with Ratra.
“I also want to thank NCA, Haryana Cricket Association and my employers ONGC for their constant support,” Ratra added.
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