A number of cricketers playing for the national team, like Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, have sharpened their game at the centre in rural Nagpur, powered by the Jaipur-based IPL franchise
Zubin Bharucha (left) with Yashasvi Jaiswal (right) during IPL 2024
The three consecutive sixes that Yashasvi Jaiswal hit off Jimmy Anderson or Dhruv Jurel’s impressive show in his debut Test series against England, were anything but fortuitous. About 100 km from Nagpur, in the village of Talegaon, the heists of both Jaiswal and Jurel were meticulously planned. It is the same place that has helped Riyan Parag transform from an underperforming batter to one that has set the domestic circuit as well as the IPL afire. It is also here that Sanju Samson graduated from a wet-behind-the-ears player to a prolific batter and an astute captain. Welcome to the Rajasthan Royals High Performance Centre that has scripted the turnaround for many a young Indian cricketer. Zubin Bharucha, the director of high performance for the IPL franchise, took us behind the scenes in an episode of Sports UnLtd. Edited excerpts:
Q. Talk us through the inception of the high-performance centre. Why was it set up and why in Talegaon?
Like in any organisation, you always go back to your leadership. For Rajasthan Royals (RR), Manoj Badale, the owner, has been very steadfast in his views around talent and young Indian talent. The year before the IPL came about, he had a cricket show called Cricket Star, where the concept was to go around and find and develop talent around India. So when the IPL actually did come about, we were ready to take that chapter on board. In the earlier days, Shane Warne played a huge role, later Rahul Dravid too. Now Kumar Sangakkara plays that role. We were always quite driven by thoughts around what we could do with these boys all through the year, we just didn't formalise it to the extent that we did three years ago.
As far as why we chose the location, a number of our support staff including our manager Romi Bhinder comes from that area. We acquired a lot of land in that area and thought what's the best way to utilise that land. Effectively, we thought that if we put all our dreams in place in terms of what could be the perfect place to practice—where we could replicate the Chennai soil, the Mumbai red soil, a bouncy wicket, a slow wicket, a green wicket etc—how would it look? That's when that seed was sown. It's tough to find land around India close to a city where you can have a vast expanse and not have to spend silly amounts of money. So we decided to build in Talegaon something that's world class. That's why we're in that little village. It gives us a great opportunity to just be around the sport and create that team environment because when you are there, there is nothing else.
Also read: The Yashasvi Jaiswal Story: From battling hunger to developing an insatiable hunger for runs