Lalit Modi's brainchild in fine shape

In 2006, the year India hosted the Champions Trophy, Lalit Modi was the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA). Jaipur hosted six of the 21 matches in the tournament, including two qualifying matches and a semifinal. New Zealand apart, each of the other nine Test playing nations played a match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

They were all greeted by a swanky new academy adjacent to the main stadium that was inaugurated less than a week before the Champions Trophy began on October 7. Modi wanted a world-class facility to offer to visiting teams, and back in 2006, what Modi wanted, Modi generally got.

For the scope of facilities it offered, the academy had been put up in record time - less than a year in fact - with the land granted at the start of the same year and construction beginning in March. And yet, in spite of the speed with which it came up, it wasn't a shoddy job that screamed 'fly-by-night'.

And though Modi has long gone, subsequent RCA administrations have still kept the academy infrastructure in good shape. As Taposh Chatterjee, the curator who oversees both the main stadium and the academy says, "All RCA management have taken a keen interest in maintaining it well."

Seven years after it was inaugurated, the academy's maintenance is impressive. In a 350 by 400 square-foot area, are housed an outfield with 24 pitches, an indoor facility with five pitches big enough for most fast bowlers to complete a full run-up, a dressing room for players, a swimming pool (currently under maintenance), and a bigger building that houses a restaurant, a lounge room for meetings, a superbly equipped gymnasium and 26 residential rooms along with office rooms.

The outfield has grass that is well manicured, with ten pitches to the extreme left, the same number on the extreme right, and four pitches in the centre that can double up as practice match pitches. The indoor facility is well-lit, equipped with bowling machines and nets, and has a turf surface with soft padding underneath from the start of the bowler's run-up to the point of delivery, minimising the stress bowlers put on their knees, shins and joints. The residential rooms are in the class of a decent business hotel, and the restaurant offers good variety on its menu. The gym equipment is spic and span. It's all seven years old, but could pass off as being fairly recent.

It's no wonder that Rajasthan players past and present, old and young, gush about the facilities on offer. Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan Ranji Trophy captain, said: "The infrastructure is superb, as good as any in the country." Aakash Chopra, who played for Rajasthan from 2010 to 2012, felt, "It's brilliant actually, one of the best in the country. When it started, it was perhaps the best." And Robin Bist, Rajasthan's highest scorer across the two seasons in which they won the Ranji Trophy (2010-11 and 2011-12), said, "You have the chance to be a better cricketer here".

In the heady days of Rajasthan following up their maiden Ranji Trophy title with a back-to-back triumph, the academy was hailed as a primary reason for the on-field success by several people in and around Rajasthan cricket.

It sounds like a simplistic argument. If academies produced champions, Australia would still be the top-ranked side in international cricket. But how wide off the mark was it? To get a clearer picture, some of the academy's history is instructive.

Amit Asawa, the present director of the academy, outlined its goals as "developing cricket in Rajasthan and nurturing young talent". Asawa, who took the post in July 2013, also coached the Rajasthan sides that won the Ranji Trophy in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

The basic goal of the academy had been the same when Greg Chappell , who was assisted by Ian Frazer, was appointed as the first director, shortly after he had quit his post as the Indian coach. Chappell said then, "To be involved with identifying and training the talent of the future in Rajasthan is a wonderful opportunity."

Chappell's methods, with Modi's sanction, included some left-field coaching. One of the coaches working with Chappell, when asked by Rediff if what was taught was quite different from regular cricket coaching, replied with, "Of course it is. If someone explains the program to you, you will think it has nothing to do with cricket. But... even this early, we are extremely kicked about this."

It didn't find that much favour with players though. Says Bist, "It wasn't that good with Greg Chappell. There were too many things happening - we had boxing coaches coming to train us and we were told it will toughen us up. It wasn't cricket specific. I felt the emphasis was more on fitness than on cricket."

The roster of directors before Asawa reads Chappell (October 2007 to July 2008), Tarak Sinha (April 2009 to July 2011) and Chandrakant Pandit (January 2012 to October 2012). In other words, for nearly 40 percent of the time, the academy has been without a director. When Rajasthan were crowned Ranji champions for the second time on January 23, 2012, Pandit had just assumed office after it had lain vacant for the entire Ranji season.

But even without a director, the academy was functional. Chatterjee and Asawa both said it runs practically throughout the year. Camps ranging from Under-14 boys, to the Ranji side, to women's cricket are conducted regularly. Seminars for match referees, scorers, curators and umpires have been held.

When visiting teams come - whether for age-group cricket, Twenty20 leagues, the Ranji Trophy, or international cricket - they always use the nets at the academy for their practice sessions. Several of the overseas players in the Champions League Twenty20 2013 have voiced satisfaction with the facilities on offer. In 2008, Cricket Australia actually thanked RCA for "the hospitality they've extended to Australia and the high quality of the facilities on offer at RCA's Academy in Jaipur" when the Australian team camped in the city ahead of their series against India.

Practice sessions, in fact, are the key to the benefit the academy has continuously provided. As Chopra said, "Weather conditions were never a constraint. If I wanted to bat for a couple of hours, I could. In Delhi if it rains, all you can do is go for a walk. If you want a pool session you have to hunt for a private pool. So these things being available for all Rajasthan cricketers makes a difference."

Asawa's plans, however, involve a bigger role for the academy than it merely being a high-class practice facility. Having been the coach of the senior side, he is well placed to liaise with RCA officials and selectors, get the best domestic talent across the state to the academy and train them. Not just players, but coaches, physiotherapists and trainers can also be brought for developing their skills from all over so that "they speak a common cricketing language and have a common methodology and programme".

Eventually, the academy could have offshoots across Rajasthan, acting as the central hub of cricketing excellence. It would help spread opportunities, and create a bench strength of players. "You'll have the best guys here and a few more guys pushing them," said Asawa. "You need that competition, and that's how the performance of everyone will improve."

That it was thrown open to all Rajasthan players, and kept in pristine condition throughout, is one of the academy's biggest strengths. And if Asawa's plans come to fruition, it will serve as much more.

An academy, even a successful one, can never by itself be the ultimate solution. But setting up a world-class one with the right ideas creates an environment where excellence has a better chance of flourishing.

In that respect, RCA's cricket academy seems to have got it right.