Cricketer Harbhajan Singh met municipal commissioner, Sitaram Kunte, on Monday with a request to help the bowler set up a cricket academy, says a report in The Times Of India.
"I have been looking for land in Mumbai and Delhi to set up my cricket academy. I met Kunte in this regard," he said. Singh explained that his unfamiliarity with the city puts him at a disadvantage on possible sites but had taken a liking to Shahaji Raje Sports Complex, "Andheri sports complex is a good place to set up the academy, but if Kunte has another place I don't mind having a look," he said. If the civic body does give land to Singh, the academy will provide free training to pupils of city-based municipal schools.
Meanwhile a report in Indian Express says that a day after making a comeback into the national Test side, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was found in the unlikely corridors of the Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC). “Bhajji showed up at the headquarters of the civic body Monday with a proposal to start a cricket academy in the city — preferably at the Andheri Sports Complex. The Rs 30-crore Andheri sports complex is run by the Greater Mumbai Sports & Cultural Trust, which is headed by the mayor and includes the municipal commissioner,” says the report.
When contacted, Mayor Sunil Prabhu told The Indian Express, "The trust has received a proposal from Harbhajan Singh to set up a cricket academy on the Andheri Sports Complex premises. Children from all over the city will be attracted to come and train for the game if such a big name is associated with us. We also plan to form a cricket team of BMC school children who can be trained in this academy."
Harbhajan met Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte and expressed an interest in training BMC schoolchildren for free at the proposed academy.