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Former Hyderabad all-rounder and member of the 1987 Ranji Trophy-winning team, Khalid Abdul Qaiyum will don the role of coach in the city by setting up his own academy, K & S Residential cricket Academy (Shamshabad), in association with another former cricketer Salamath Ali Khan at CBR Ground (Gollur).
The 64-year-old Qaiyum, who is now staying in the US, said he was grateful to C.B.R. Prasad and Salamath Ali Khan who gave the land free of cost to develop the cricket academy which would be fully operational in two weeks.
“The facility will not only have quality infrastructure but also a residential facility for outstation young talent willing to hone their skills,” Khalid said.
“Well, having coached at All Saints before leaving for the US in 1990 and staying connected with the sport there, I know what it takes to be a successful coach,” said the gutsy cricketer who played 67 First-Class games, scoring 3368 runs between 1976-1990.
“There will be no age limit to recruit trainees and efforts will be made that the talented cricketers keep improving with the ultimate objective of producing internationals,” Khalid said.
Why now coaching? “Honestly, I am shocked at the current affairs in Hyderabad cricket. I thought it’s time to give back something. Definitely, money is not the criterion as I am well settled in the US,” he said.
“The fee will also be very nominal even though we plan day-long training sessions since we have the residential facility also. And, we are in touch with other former cricketers who might be interested in coaching at the Academy,” said Khalid, who also revealed that he was the first one who spotted the likes of Abdul Azeem, Kanwaljit Singh and Venkapathi Raju.
“We learnt the basics the hard way under disciplined coaches like late A.R. Bhupathi sir, Ibrahim Khan. So, there is no way we are going to compromise on anything related to coaching,” he concluded.
Looking back at his own career, southpaw Khalid said his most memorable knock was the century (102) he scored for Hyderabad (Ranji Trophy champion) against Rest of India at Gymkhana Ground in 1987 against an attack comprising Chetan Sharma, Narendra Hirwani and W.V. Raman.
“Obviously, winning the Ranji Trophy was the finest moment of my career. It was a great team effort under trying circumstances,” said Khalid, who was also a left-arm spinner.
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