NCA head VVS Laxman touches upon the aspect of the academy in nurturing talent, dealing with rehabilitation and similar issues…
Think VVS Laxman and the many pictures of that bulky torso with the most supple of wrists come to your mind with every memory of that head honcho and the one player one hated bowling too. Even after retiring from cricket in 2012, Laxman’s cricketing traits have been evident through the numerous things he has done and which he has been successful at. Amongst them, the credit goes to his current position as the head of National Cricket Academy which was known as BCCI’s Center of Excellence (CoE) as made public over the weekend.
The creative Hyderabadi who succeeded Rahul Dravid in the role related to BCCI Coe has transformed several rooms literally and redefined the aims of that particular establishment to target education, coaching and general growth with particular emphasis on children and youths.
A all-round team player who recently signed a contract with the thorny and is ready for another renewal as soon as the current one expires in December this year, Laxman has given all the credit to his support group and the high profile standing of the NCA to achieve there.
At a press conference, where he took the mantle from Dravid for the first time at the age of a possible 49, he endorsed the aims, roles, activities, and the substantive outcomes worked within the CoE.
On changing roles as the administrator
When I undertook my current responsibilities in December 2021, there was a great deal of hesitation. But once I embraced this position, it has been a satisfying and fulfilling experience. Because you’re dealing with not only the established international stars, but you’re creating the bench strength as well. To witness the extent of talent and potential we have in our hands has been very pleasing. I can say with a lot of certainty that saving one or two skill sets. We have a good number of players who in the next ten years will make this country proud. We are fortunate, especially in women’s cricket where similar talents also exist. The concept is to keep an eye on the players and enhance their game to some extent whichever they are aware of. I have a terrific team, which is very critical to the success of the things that I hope for from what we do at the NCA. I think this is an endless struggle but satisfying.
On coaching and sharing workload
The definition of coaching has come a long way from where it was few decades or even years ago. Now, it’s options that we give, and finally, the player has to be comfortable in recognizing and even taking that option. Nevertheless, if he decides that it is working, he cannot be paralyze by such feelings and will incorporate the idea. The entire aim is to give that exposure to the player. Another thing which we have done is monitor the players, both men and women.
On injury management
One myth, which is very prevalent, is that they are always under pressure due dates need to be respected. There are a few cases such as these where one knows that a deadline is going to be met. But there are a few cases such as these wherein recovery is post poned, or progress is not noticeable, or there is no progress at all. There is a necessity for patience, there however is a recovery period that can still not be subdued. Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna put in great efforts over time and were somehow also able to overcome the long waiting period.
On bridging the gaps
During the time that Tony (George) served as a manager for the Indian team, he used to look after the contracted players whereas we at NCA use to look in for the targeted players. That is how it works. At the domestic level we have the emergings and the under 19 attached players who are attached to them for the whole year. They come for camps and when they go back to their respective state associations we look at them. Every NCA coach handles at least 10 players. We work with the coaches in the state. Most of those coaches are part of our ecosystem through the summer programmes. It is an open and inclusive way of working. The communication channel is very transparent.
On the importance of bench strength
There’s still the over-emphasis on just the head of the team. I am thankful to BCCI secretary Jay Shah who has permitted my team and me to undertake all the programs as well as any other programs aimed at improving the players. For instance, Everybody’s mouth goes to the Indian side of the spectrum. We have been successful in T20 cricket as well, winning the T20 World Cup, which was good enough. However, we have been winning in all the three formats. The reason for that is there is huge supply chain which is a boon. The reason for that is mainly because we are attaching a lot of significance to the first-class cricket.
On the upskill of U-19 players
Every two years, there is a great event for the players – World Cup. We are heading towards this goal with the idea of taking it home, but it is also about how to go about it. Structure is great but we realised that from one World Cup to the other there is always one batch which misses the bus. The U-19 team is currently in the middle of an ODI series against Australia. Several players who are at risk of missing out on the next world cup are playing in this series. This brings the advantage of such players being able to play at a high level hence improving their skills as cricketers.
