India helping in training Maldivian cricket players: MEA

India is helping in training Maldivian cricket players and bringing it up to the requisite standard, the External Affairs Ministry said. Addressing reporters on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said India is also looking into constructing a stadium in the South Asian country, which is another request made by it.

"One of the focus in our ties with the Maldives is on the people-to-people relationship and in looking at ways to strengthen it," he said. In April, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih attended an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Bengaluru and subsequently expressed interest to develop a cricket team in the Maldives and sought India's assistance in training this team and bringing it up to the requisite standard.

"So among his requests, which are under examination, is a cricket stadium in the Maldives. We expect to build it under the line of credit that we plan to give," Gokhale said. He said the ministry is working with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to train Maldivian cricketers.

"A team from the BCCI visited the Maldives earlier in May for the training of Maldivian cricketers, organising coaching programmes and supply of kits," he said. During Solih's visit to Bengaluru, he was presented jerseys by Indian Cricket team captain Virat Kohli, former skipper MS Dhoni and IPL Chief Operating Officer Hemang Amin.

On the occasion, top BCCI officials, including General Manager Saba Karim, had given a presentation to the entire Maldives contingent. Cricket Board of Maldives governs the gentleman's game in the island nation. It became a member of the Asian Cricket Council and an affiliate of the International Cricket Council in 1998.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day visit to the Maldives beginning Saturday in his first bilateral trip after reelection for a second term as the prime minister.