After NCA, its the Siri Fort Sports Complex

I attended the nets with Sapient's Gurgaon cricket team for the first time last saturday. The address of the location read, Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi. It didn’t sound very impressive on the first read to be honest.

The ease with which I could find the directions to the place made me think twice. When the car entered the complex, it reminded me one of those posh residential complexes of the government or semi government organizations like RCF, BPCL, etc.

As we drove in, the complex began to grow on me. The first thing you notice as soon as you enter is a sign board at a crossroads with multiple arms, each bearing the name of a sport and pointing in the direction where the facility for it was located.
That was a huge signboard. It listed everything from badminton to cricket and a golf range too.

There was also an indoor stadium which looked pretty modern from the outside.

I asked for the cricket facility. I followed the direction. It was a small lane next to the sports shop, fairly unnoticeable and not at all prominent. As I walked on, after about 15 meters a HUGE cricket field presented itself. It was lush green. I have not seen so much grass cover even at the Wankhede.
The pavilion was not an elaborate structure but a barrack just like soccer, or like the one we see in the Twenty20.

At one corner of the field, way outside the boundary were the practice pitches. The nets were very spacious and well erected. There were turf pitches and matted ones. Four of each kind.

At the nets I surprisingly had a long stint which got my back a bit sore. This was surprising because I was attending their nets for the first time and one usually doesnt get such treatment. I was very lucky.

After the nets I took a small tour of the complex and each facility was top class… the Olympic size swimming pool was extremely inviting. So were the air conditioned wooden badminton courts. The synthetic tennis courts. I can go on and on and on…
I later learnt that this was the site of the 2010 Common wealth games. I was like, no wonder!

I was in awe when I played at the National Cricket academy’s facility at Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore. This was as good. A better facility than the NCA but, the NCA is more significant for a cricketer and hence was more special. A different feeling all together.

One similarity though. I wish I would have clicked a snap of myself at these prestigious venues. iIdid'nt at NCA. I didnt click one here as well.

But some things as special stay pretty fresh in the mind for ever. You donot need snaps to keep them alive.
I hope they do...