Veteran India and Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda, who announced his retirement from all formats of cricket on Tuesday, is planning to start an academy.
Dinda reckons he might name it the ‘Dinda Academy of Pace Bowling’ – the name of a social media meme page which invariably trolls pacers who leak runs – saying that it is already famous.
“Even though I have quit the game, the game will stay with me forever. I will just chill as of now, I have taken a lot of pressure all these years, there’s no headache now, so I will simply relax. And there is a social media page named ‘Dinda Academy of Pace Bowling’, so I am thinking why not open an academy with the same name? It is already famous, so a plan to open ‘Dinda Academy’ is there,” Dinda told Sportskeeda.
“You can call it a sports academy, where kids can come, stay and learn cricket. All sorts of facilities will be made available to them, and I will also be available 24 hours. I haven’t come to a conclusion yet, but there are a few post-retirement plans in mind. Everybody will get to know in the next couple of months,” Dinda added.
The 36-year-old, who had featured in 13 ODIs and nine T20Is for India, had moved to Goa at the start of this season after facing disciplinary action after playing only one Ranji Trophy match in 2019-20.
For Goa, he played three three Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches before realising that his body was not supporting him anymore.
Dinda represented Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors, Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In 78 IPL games, Dinda picked up 68 wickets at a strike rate of 22.20 and an economy rate of 8.22, with his best figures being 4/18.
One of the most consistent pacers in Indian domestic cricket in the recent past, Dinda, who has 420 wickets from 116 first-class matches, is the second leading wicket-taker for Bengal after former left-arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee.
(With inputs from PTI)
