What 3 Weeks Inside an Indian Cricket Academy Taught Me About the Australian Development Mode
A coach's comparative reflection from the nets of Hyderabad to the playing fields of Perth I've spent a long-time coaching cricket in Australia. I thought I had a pretty solid grasp of what a strong development pathway looks like. Then I spent three weeks at Raftaar Cricket Academy in Hyderabad — and I came home with more questions than answers. Here's what I found. The Volume Gap Is Staggering The first thing that hit me — and it hit hard — was the sheer volume of work these young Indian players put in. Most of them were arriving at the nets before school for a two-hour session, then returning in the evening for another. Six days a week. Hundreds of balls faced. Every single day. Back in Perth, my district squads run two 2-hour sessions per week . Add in a session with a specialist batting or bowling coach, and you're looking at roughly 5–6 hours of structured practice weekly . Within those squad sessions, a batter migh...
