Dhoni to Open Cricket Academy in Singapore

Close on the heels of opening his own cricket academy in Dubai, Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is set to open another one in Singapore. The academy will be opened on Jan. 20 at St Patrick’s School.

The curriculum for the academy is developed by Dhoni and the former Indian captain will be working with Singapore National Women’s Cricket captain GK Diviya, who competed at last year’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, and men’s team players Chetan Suryavanshi and Chaminda Ruwan.

Dhoni is working with Academia7, the franchise holder for the academy in 13 countries, and sports management company Aarka Sports to establish up to 12 other academies in Asia. The initiative aims to expand into countries like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, and Japan.

“We are very excited to bring cricket development to various schools and cricket clubs in Singapore and progressively to the rest of Asia, so more stalwarts like MS can emerge on the global scale in years to come, even from non-traditional countries,” Josh Ghosh, the Managing Director of Academia7, told Connected to India website.

“Sports should be an essential driver for the development of a child’s character,” Dhoni said a statement. “Apart from being fit, you can learn leadership and other important aspects of life via sports. Every kid should play an outdoor sport. MS Dhoni Cricket Academy is not only about producing cricket talent, but our academy’s vision is to guide a kid to become a champion in life via sports.”

More than 200 children have signed up for admission in the academy after registrations started last month. The academy is open to children aged six years and above.

Dhoni is seen as one of the most successful captains of India, after winning titles of ICC trophies in all formats of the game — the World Cup in 2011, World T20 in 2007 and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. He led India in 331 international games, the most by any captain.

The MS Dhoni Cricket Academy was started in India with Aarka Sports in Jharkhand, after which it expanded to other cities in India.

Dhoni opened his first overseas branch of the academy in November last year. After the inauguration, Dhoni conducted a special cricket clinic with budding cricketers the next day.

Dhoni’s company partnered with the Dubai-based Pacific Ventures in August last year to open the academy at the Springdales School campus.

“The academy is in perfect shape and it will be a big thing for UAE cricket do have an academy run by a legend like Dhoni,” Parvez Khan, the director of Pacific Ventures, had said then.

In other news, Chennai Super Kings team of Indian Premier League, which returned after two years of suspension, retained Dhoni to play the 11th edition of IPL.