NCA Needs A Shake-up, And The Two Old Friends Can Give It One

If India’s National Cricket Academy could talk, it would have said in the year 2000 when it was set up, “When I grow up I want to become like the Australian Cricket Academy.” That was the plan of the Board of Control for Cricket in India — a finishing school for young cricketers and a refresher for mature players who find technical snags creeping into their game.

- Suresh Menon

Running joke

The ACA was later renamed the Centre of Excellence, and the NCA a hospice for injured players. The former was an official change of name, the latter merely a running joke among some players. In recent years, rehabilitation was much criticised, as in the case of wicketkeeper Wridhiman Saha who missed tours either because he had a thumb injury or a shoulder injury — clarity was not an NCA speciality.

This lack of clarity has been a part of the NCA’s mission too — despite some top players having been either chairmen or directors — and is what Rahul Dravid inherited when he took over a few months ago. The NCA had produced, or put the finishing touches to some fine India players, but it has failed to live down its botched injury-management system. The NCA deserves better, and the BCCI’s renewed interest in its future is welcome.