The National Cricket Academy (NCA) Committee will meet at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai on May 4. According to BCCI sources on Wednesday, the NCA Chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) president AC Muthiah, BCCI treasurer Kishore Rungta and NCA Director Brijesh Patel along with NCA committee members Sunil Gavaskar, Polly Umrigar, S Venkataraghavan and Hanumant Singh would attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Head coach of the North Zone Cricket Academy Yashpal Sharma, today dismissed the controversy over the appointment of a fifth coach as mere "confusion" which had been sorted out amicably. "I am answerable only to National Cricket Academy's Chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur or Director Brijesh Patel regarding coaches or trainees and I don't see any controversy regarding the fifth coach Gursharan Singh," Sharma told PTI in New Delhi.

"I got a letter today from NCA about Gursharan's appointment and I took him on and till then he co-operated with us from the sidelines and did not interfere. He is now very much a part of the coaching team," Sharma said. Sharma added that "training was going on smoothly and "this morning it was exercises, running and jogging, after which fielding was practiced." And it was during the fielding practice that Cricket Board consultant Geoff Marsh joined them on the ground, Sharma said.

With Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) president Arun Jaitley a keen observor of the proceedings, Marsh interacted with the boys and was satisfied with what he saw remarking "they are spot on", Sharma said.

The evening sessions will involve batting drills. "Lessons on how to play each shot particularly the pull, cut and hook, will be given to remove misapprehensions about Indians being wary of playing these shots," the coach said.

The batting practice will be followed by a swimming session. There will be a variety in the daily programme with the schedules also including yoga classes, gym and weight training. The trainees will be shown video clippings also of important matches, Sharma said.

"Our players need to work hard on fielding and running between the wickets so we will emphasise on both. Our top priority, of course, will be physical fitness. "A strong body, strong will power and stamina to survive for six hours on the field are what we intend to focus on," Sharma said.

DDCA vice-president CK Khanna also said the confusion had been sorted out amicably. All the other zonal academies have only four coaches but confusion prevailed when DDCA vice-president CK Khanna insisted on the inclusion of the former Delhi-Punjab batsman Gursharan Singh in the coaches team citing approval from Dungarpur. Sharma, on the contrary, maintained that he would not go for an additional coach unless he got specific directions from NCA.

© PTI