Dubai coach reveals how Saudi is using cricket to motivate construction workers at Neom
Just days ago reports had emerged about a mega plan for a T20 league backed by Saudi Arabia that could change the global cricketing landscape, according to experts.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Saudi Arabia is looking to bring a $500 million cricket league with eight teams that could play in four different cities across the globe.
The proposed league is seen by many as being able to dethrone the Indian Premier League (IPL) from the top of the pile as the richest cricket tournament in the globe.
The Saudi authorities have not yet made any official comment on their aspirations of a mega cricket event but the sport sneaks into their mission statements anyway.
With the bid already won to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup, Saudi are sparing no effort in its ambition to create world-class facilities throughout the Gulf state.
In a rather unique measure, Saudi has fused cricket with the football culture building the game from the bottom up and also promoting cricket among construction workers particularly in Neom, a futuristic city-state its building in the nations northwestern quarter.
Neom will also have a world-class stadium for the 2034 Fifa World Cup.
When construction workers did finally settle down to go to work, Saudi authorities in collaboration with the IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals, kicked off community cricket tournaments for employees and contractors.
An old associate of veteran Indian cricket coach in Dubai Sudhakar Shetty, was on invitation of Rajasthan Royals to bring a one-off initiative to motivate construction workers.
So there are all kinds of stakeholders that are interested in the making of that place (Neom). One of these is the Rajasthan Royals. They run community development programs. Shetty said that they are engaging in a number of activities and motivating the workers across the camps.
Shetty took on the role of providing pep talks on cricket and motivating the workforce during the tennis-ball tournaments. Those initiatives had also seen legendary cricketers Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara sent by the Royals.
Post the tournament, Dravid and Sangakkara presented the awards and also interacted with the workers," Shetty said. "As many of these people come from the sub-continent so cricket has been used as a motivation tool for construction workers."
Founder of the Maxtalent Cricket Academy in the UAE, Shetty was left spellbound by the scale of the development work at Neom. "They are changing the place remarkably, it's unbelievable," I predict enormous success for Neom. He said: "And I think they are very positive the IPL will also come one day [to Saudi].
Siddhartha Lahiri, head of Coaching Academy, Rajasthan Royals, invited Shetty as a part of the project. It's a welfare project, a non-commercial project and I was more than happy to accept the offer," he said.
As far as cricket development — which has always been close to my heart — was concerned, I would always be happy doing it for the game.
Comments