It’s the season of cricket academies in the UAE. First India players MS Dhoni and Ravi Ashwin announced the launch of their academies in Dubai followed by former international Robin Singh.

Budding cricketers in the UAE will now have an opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade from some of the best in the business but former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin had a word of caution, saying academies shouldn’t select kids just to boost finances but should build towards producing quality cricketers.

Speaking at the UAE-India Economic Form 2017, Azharuddin said academies are mushrooming everywhere and it’s up to those running them to ensure only serious players are picked and then moulded into players who can represent their country or the level below.

“There are so many academies coming up all over. I know everyone wants to do well and gain financially, but at the end of the day academies are of no use if they don’t produce cricketers. Just having academies for the sake of it serves no purpose. I get invited to academies all over the world, but when I go there, (I get a feeling) they don’t want to produce players. I want it to stop,” Azharuddin said in Dubai.

“Anyone can open an academy but that is giving false hopes to the boys. I honestly feel if there is no skill in a boy, there is no point having him. There are some academies where boys play for four, five years. They know they can’t play. We can’t fool around with parents, with the boys’ careers. If they don’t have the skill, you can always tell them. For you own selfish reason, you can’t put a child’s career at risk.”

The former India skipper, who is also an active politician and was a member of the Indian parliament, said he is open to the idea of opening an academy in the UAE but will do it only when he gets a professional team in place.

“Academies should take kids who really want to play seriously and then produce players who go on to represent the country or the state. There are some academies who have 200, 300 kids. How are you going to help all of them?

“I don’t have any academy. If I can get good professional help, I will think about it. When I have an academy, I want to produce cricketers. If somebody is professional and wants to open an academy here in my name, I am more than happy to do it,” he added.