Former BCCI secretary Jay Shah played a pivotal role in developing the BCCI Centre of Excellence from a barren land of 40 acres in just two years, current secretary Devajit Saikia and head of CoE VVS Laxman highlighted. The land project had several paths to clear before a world-class state-of-the-art CoE took shape.ย
The CoE is now nearing its second anniversary after it became operational in November 2024. Speaking to the media, Saikia recalled how Shah went about his business in helping develop the academy. “He took everybody on board in the BCCI’s Apex Council and made a firm decision that this establishment, the Centre of Excellence, had to be done on a war footing,” Saikia said as quoted by a press release.ย
“We needed to move on from the old, temporary arrangement of the National Cricket Academy. Jay also came here personally on several occasions to clear all the legal hurdles to start the work, because a lot of regulations had to be followed once we decided to start a proper project. On top of that, we had to regularise the land,” he added.
Regularising the land was the biggest challenge: Saikia
The current BCCI secretary revealed that regularising the 40-acre land was the biggest challenge that came before construction could begin. “That was the biggest challenge because this kind of land, 40 acres, was lying idle and a lot of people wanted to take it back. So, everything had to be cleared before the work started on February 14, 2022. Jay went to great lengths to ensure that all the hurdles were cleared and that everyone involved in the project was aligned towards completing the mission,” he added.
VVS Laxman took over as the NCA head in late 2021 after the then chief Rahul Dravid moved to become the head coach of the Indian men’s team in December 2021. He recalled his own involvement, stating that he moved to Bengaluru in December 2021 after Jay Shah and then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly reached out to him to ensure continuity following Dravid’s move.
Laxman also credited Shah’s hands-on involvement in translating the vision for the CoE into reality. “In the span of close to two years, the entire infrastructure was up and running. And huge credit to Jay because he was the secretary of the BCCI and I myself saw firsthand how much interest he used to take in various meetings we used to have with the architects, with the L&T team, to make sure that each and every aspect of the CoE, or then NCA, is taken care of,” Laxman said.
(With ANI Inputs)
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