Three grounds – including one with 85-yard boundaries across all sides – with 86 different types of outdoor and indoor ones in total, a state-of-the-art sports science medicine lab, and a fully-furnished gym facility are among the striking aspects of the BCCI’s new Centre of Excellence on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Spread over 40 acres, out of which 33 are utilised, the facility was inaugurated by BCCI president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah inaugurated the National Cricket Academy, which has been renamed the Centre of Excellence, on Saturday.
“I think the word excellence is very important for all sportspersons who are trying to compete at the highest level. When we talk about excellence, mediocrity is something which you do not want to embrace. You want to compete with the best in the world. And I think the word excellence has got a lot of importance and impact,” VVS Laxman, the head of cricket at NCA, said on the name change.
A pet project of the BCCI, 16 years in the making, ran into several hurdles before work finally began in February 2022. The facility is expected to be fully functional by January when the gym equipment arrives from Italy. Laxman described the facility as “way ahead of time.”
Till now, the BCCI has been using the M Chinnaswamy Stadium premises to operate the NCA. But with several camps running through the year across all age-groups, it faced difficulties in finding grounds that test different skillets. At its CoE, the BCCI has managed to get everything under one single roof.
The A Ground, the biggest one, has 13 pitches on the square made of red soil brought from Mumbai. The BCCI plans to use this ground for India A matches as it has two large dressing rooms, which include physio rooms, jacuzzis and massage rooms with broadcast and floodlight facilities in place. The bouncy pitches will come handy for players ahead of tours to Australia and South Africa.
The B Ground, made up of 11 pitches and which has 75-yard boundaries, comprises local soil brought from Mandya. It is a mixture of red and black, giving players home conditions. The C Ground, of the same size, has 9 pitches on the square with black soil brought from Kalahandi in Odisha.
“On black soil surfaces, batsmen can practise with a grass cover, it will enable seam movement as well and will be good preparation for players before they play in England or New Zealand,” Laxman said.
Both B and C grounds will be used only for practice.
All bases covered
The most striking part of the campus is the sports science and medicine block. With a gym facility over 16,200 square feet area, it takes care of nutrition, yoga, rehabilitation, strength and conditioning requirements, and will have a yet-to-be-installed 50m synthetic track, a 50m turf track and a huge swimming pool. It also has sleeping pods to enable speedy recovery.
“I think the beneficiaries will be not only the future generation of cricketers but also the current generation. I have been to some of the best academies in the world, not only limited to cricket, but other sports also. But I have not seen this kind of a facility,” Laxman said.
Beyond the sports science lab lies the indoor arena, which has 8 pitches with six brought from the UK (four seam- and two spin-friendly) and two from Australia. Above the indoor arena, a dormitory that can accommodate 24 men and 8 women is coming up.
Sitting right behind is a sprawling outdoor net facility which has been segregated by nine clusters: 10 red soil, 20 mixed, 10 black soil, 5 concrete with 20 having floodlight facilities.
“Since the time I joined the NCA in December 2021, cricketers come here, not only for rehab. They also come to the NCA to upskill, get ready for the challenges during the various series they are going to participate in. This will help the Indian cricket team to probably become the best in the world in all formats,” Laxman said.
