BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah have laid the foundation for a new National Cricket Academy on Monday. For the project, BCCI has secured the land on a 99-year lease.
BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla, treasurer Arun Dhumal, joint secretary Jayesh George and NCA head VVS Laxman were also present in the ceremony.
“The new National Cricket Academy starts from today ..laid the foundation stone of the new place today in Bengaluru @BCCI,” tweeted Sourav Ganguly and he also shared images of the ceremony.
The new National cricket Academy @bcci pic.twitter.com/fVWMOxev5g
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) February 14, 2022
“Laid the foundation stone for @BCCI’s new NCA. It is our collective vision to have a Centre of Excellence which nurtures talent and supports the cricket ecosystem in India. Jai Hind!” tweeted by BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
Laid the foundation stone for @BCCI’s new NCA. It is our collective vision to have a Centre of Excellence which nurtures talent and supports the cricket ecosystem in ??. Jai Hind! @SGanguly99 @ThakurArunS @ShuklaRajiv @VVSLaxman281 pic.twitter.com/0EMzssMJIe
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) February 14, 2022
The new National Cricket Academy is expected to be ready in a year’s time. It will have three grounds where domestic matches will be played.
The existing National Cricket Academy was established in 2000
The existing National Cricket Academy is located at the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium, Bengaluru. It was established in 2000 when the late Raj Singh Dungarpur was the BCCI president. The original idea for its establishment was to train young players who were identified as potential India prospects. It has also been used rehabilitation centre for injured players.
Currently, it’s headed by former India batsman VVS Laxman. India recently won the U-19 World Cup held in West Indies and the National Cricket Academy played a big part in the success as no tours were scheduled for the U-19 team so all the players spent most of the time there to train for the mega event.
“The BCCI has to be complimented for the number of matches and the number of tournaments, Each age-group level gets to play, whether it’s Under-16, Under-19, Under-23. But unfortunately, over the last two years, because of Covid, they didn’t play any tournaments. And that’s why I think this tournament win is very special.” VVS Laxman said after winning the Under-19 World Cup.
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