Indian cricket team support staff to mentor Ironwood Education in development of coaching programme

Support staff of the Indian cricket team has recently joined hands with Ironwood Education to launch a certified cricket coaching programme. With this, the education company aims to “standardise and systematise coaching practices for all levels of the sports in the country, at grassroots and intermediate levels.”

Since cricket coaching continues to be largely fragmented and unstructured in terms of curriculum and methodology, Ironwood Education also seeks to help in professional employment of cricket coaches across the country through the new programme. Its pedagogy will be a blend of digital and on ground methodologies, techniques and tools.

The support staff, consisting of three mentors – Dr. Kinjal Suratwala, former head of coach education at National Cricket Academy, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, will provide guidance to Iron Education on the development of the programme. The team will be led by Ravi Shastri, head coach of India national cricket team.

Talking about the recent collaboration and the potential of such coaching in India, Shastri said, “I personally realise the great role of standardised and systematic coaching practices in bringing Indian cricket to its present status and capacity.” He added that initiatives like this will lay the groundwork for further growth of the country’s most popular sport.

Promoter and Director of Ironwood Education said, “Over the years, we have seen the business in the game of cricket grow exponentially with a keen focus from all generations. A structured and systematic coaching approach is the need of the day to develop.”

Based out of Mumbai, Ironwood Education has been establishing itself in the media and entertainment space. It offers short term and full time courses in advertising, journalism, graphic design, radio programming, etc., across India and the Middle East. However, its collaboration with the Indian cricket team’s support staff marks its first initiative in the sports fraternity.