Small-town Gurdaspur has been bestowed upon with big-time cricketing gifts by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Himanshu Aggarwal much to the delight of the city’s cricket playing fraternity.
He has brought in novelties like a state-of-the-art bowling machine, a speed gun and an electronic scoreboard.
A majority of the cricket-playing districts of Punjab do not have recourse to such gadgets.
The bowling machine has been installed at Government College ground where cricketers practice throughout the year under the guidance of coach Rakesh Marshal.
Marshal’s boys are all set to commence a new innings with new tools and with new dreams.
The bowling machine was jointly inaugurated by senior AAP leader and halqa incharge Raman Bahl and the DC. The bureaucrat himself is a cricketing buff. It is common knowledge that barely hours after joining as the city’s chief executive, the first thing he did was to visit the ground. Every day, around 5.30 am, he joins the youngsters for nets. “I am a cricketer who relishes playing on Sunday afternoons, not the serious stuff but just whacking the ball here, there and everywhere. However, I have a vision to make Gurdaspur as one of the top cricket playing districts of Punjab. These gadgets will go a long way in fulfilling my aim,” he remarked.