The IPL’s Rajasthan Royals continue England academy expansion in London
In 2019, the Rajasthan Royals set up a new academy in Surrey. It was their first based in England and now four years on, they are launching their third. Trials are taking place in Wandsworth and Hammersmith next week, for a new London-based academy.
The academy is an attempt to grow the clubs brand globally and promote the dream for young players to progress from the grassroots level of English cricket to the glamour of the IPL.
Along with Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler is one of the big English names to have played for Rajasthan Royals.
Shaftab Khalid is the academy’s new Director of Cricket and the ex-Worcestershire spinner and Warwickshire coach is excited about the future.
“The aim and the ethos of the academy is to give the opportunity for young players to have a training programme which is going to help them further by using the brand name of the Rajasthan Royals and great coaching.
“There are lots of academies in the UK, you have Joe Root’s and Adil Rashid’s, they’re doing exactly the same thing that we are, people are going there because of the big names, so they’re using that platform.”
Shane Warne at the academy’s launch in Cobham, Surrey, in 2019
Cricket in England has long been burdened by a reputation of being a posh sport. Most County Championship teams and the international side are dominated by players from private schools.
The academy is hoping to combat that and give opportunities to players from less privileged backgrounds.
“Private school kids make up the majority of country cricket teams. They are given the platform in terms of how many times they are training in the school, obviously you get better and better the more training you do.
“At Rajasthan Royals academy, we provide support for about five people per age group so those kids that cannot afford to pay the fees can come and train with us and improve their talent and if they have got something we can try and push them into county cricket or even further.
“We want to give them the best of the best opportunity to be the best version of themselves and play at the highest level they possibly can.”
Khalid coaching at the Rajasthan Royals Academy
And now, the Rajasthan Royals academy have their own graduate playing for England. Shoaib Bashir has recently been called up for England’s test side for the tour of India in January.
"One of my highlights of training at the Royals Academy UK was meeting and talking to the great Shane Warne. I was lucky enough to bowl a few balls while he was watching and he gave me a few valuable tips!” – Shoaib Bashir, England's latest Test recruit 👏 pic.twitter.com/GaqI7sbevj
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) December 11, 2023
Khalid praised the young spinner: “I know Bashir pretty well, I met him at Warwickshire when he was playing for Somerset.
“He’s a role model for many young cricketers. He was part of Surrey, didn’t make it there and all of a sudden Somerset provided him with the opportunity which he took with both hands and from nowhere he is part of the England team.
“He was training with Rajasthan Royals in Leeds and I think his story should give motivation to not give up, no matter what. If you have the talent there is definitely an opportunity for you to play cricket at the highest level.”
The Rajasthan Royals are hoping to expand their academy operations in the UK, with potential moves to Yorkshire, Manchester, Birmingham and even Scotland.
On the expansion, Khalid said: “There is an expansion plan in terms of moving to different cities, there’s a lot of talent across the country that we’d love to coach.”
Trials are currently taking place at Emanuel School in Wandsworth and St Paul’s School in Hammersmith.
