OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera underlines about establishment of 41 academies in 30 districts by Odisha Cricket Association

Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has been implementing strategic plans for player development in every district of the state.

Odisha, a state renowned for its rich culture and diversity, has undergone a significant transformation in the field of sports in recent years. With multiple sports in the limelight, the game of cricket has seen a rapid growth under the supervision of Odisha Cricket Association’s (OCA) secretary Sanjay Behera.

The 2025-26 Indian domestic cricket season saw some thrilling performances by teams that were never in contention to lift the trophy at the beginning of the tournaments. With Jammu and Kashmir lifting the Ranji Trophy and Jharkhand clinching the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the focus of the cricket pundits have shifted towards the states that are looking to rise to higher ranks by their clinical performances.

Odisha, which has been categorised as an underdog for a long time, is now focusing on establishing a dominant presence at the national level. However, a well-planned structure and regular supervision of players at the grassroots level has always remained the major growth strategy for every team. Over the last few years, the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has been implementing strategic plans for player development in every district of the state.

We, being very jubilant towards acknowledging the focused growth of the teams at the professional level, had a brief chat with the Odisha Cricket Association’s (OCA) secretary, Sanjay Behera, who has been working with a vision to develop the game in the state over the years.

​The Grassroots Expansion

​When we talk about nurturing a talent, the first and foremost focus remains on the development of players at an early stage of their career. The secretary, Sanjay Behera, has taken a visionary step in this matter.

He said:

“We have established 41 cricket academies in 30 districts of Odisha, where there is provision of turf wickets and structured coaching programs. At those academies, we provide professional training infrastructure for young cricketers, which aims at strengthening the grassroots system across the state. We have also assigned one curator at every academy who looks after the maintenance of the grounds and the turf wickets.”  

​Odisha Pro T20 League

Along with most of the state associations in the country, Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has listed its name in the country, who organized a well formulated league for its players.

Sanjay Behera also took the pride to state that:

“2025 was a monumental year for our association. In this particular year we launched the Odisha Pro T20 League, our first ever franchise based T20 League. It not just provided the top players a platform to showcase their talent but even the best performers were highlighted at the national level. The matches were televised on Stars Sports.”

“Along with that, some of the best known international players like Debashish Mohanty, Irfan Pathan, Maninder Singh, Chetan Sharma, Monty Singh Panesar and Farveez Maharoof were associated with the league, which boosted the morale of the players”, added by the secretary.

Digital Revolution & Intra-Club Tournaments

In today’s world, digitalization has become the ultimate pathway for solving every possible task. When it comes to sports, such steps are being taken by certain organisations and associations to keep detailed information of the athletes for better execution of listed plans.

When a question regarding the digitalization of the game came into focus, he said:

“We have launched the OCA App to record and track player performance, where the performances of the players can be accessed publicly with a modernized digital database. Along with that, we take pride in highlighting the inception of intra-club tournaments in every district, which has helped in increasing match exposure for the players under improved and competitive playing conditions.”  

​A Visionary Initiative

The secretary Sanjay Behera also highlighted the upcoming projects under his supervision, that are intended towards improvement of the sport in the state. He stated:

“As part of a long-term vision for structured player development, work is underway for the Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab Cricket Feeder Centre. It will focus on identifying and nurturing Under-14 talents from district academies and inter-school tournaments. They will be provided residential coaching along with integrated education. It will also include structured nutrition programs with advanced coaching and high-performance training facilities.”​

At the end, the OCA secretary Sanjay Behera mentioned another highly visionary project. He stated:

“At the Sachin Tendulkar Sports Science Centre, they will introduce state-of-the-art sports science and modern technology to Odisha cricket. It will hold advanced performance assessment systems, scientific training methodologies, injury prevention and rehabilitation support and data-driven player performance enhancement.”​

With such disciplined planning and execution of work at the Odisha Cricket Association, the professional players and budding talents can expect a suitable environment where they can upskill their game and come up with better performances in the near future.

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