The National Cricket Academy (NCA) is the premier cricket facility of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) established in May 2000 for the purpose of developing young cricketers who have been identified as having the potential to represent the Indian cricket team. The facility is also used for the rehabilitation of injured players, including many international players.
The original academy was established in 2000 and is located near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. In September 2024, the BCCI opened a revamped, state-of-the-art facility near the Bengaluru International Airport. This new Centre of Excellence (CoE) takes over as the BCCI's primary training academy and site for rehabilitation, injury management and sports science. Operations from the old facility have been shifted out in a phased manner to the new CoE, with VVS Laxman, the director of the former NCA, carrying on as director for the CoE. Notably, the BCCI has extended use of the facility to non-cricketers such as Olympic athletes.
History The NCA was the brainchild of cricket administrator and former BCCI President Raj Singh Dungarpur.
The NCA's early trainees benefited from the Border–Gavaskar Scholarship Program, an initiative funded by the Australia-India Council (AIC) that sent promising young Indian cricketers to train at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide, Australia. Named after former captains Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, the program began in 2000 and selected its scholars, drawn from the NCA and other state and domestic level academies, through a panel chaired by Gavaskar. Recipients included Mohammad Kaif, Sridaran Sriram, and Shiv Sunder Das in its first year, followed by players such as Parthiv Patel, Deepak Chougule, and Cheteshwar Pujara in subsequent years. The BCCI contributed additional funding in some years to extend players' training stays. The program was discontinued around 2011 after the AIC withdrew its sponsorship and no other body stepped in to fund it.
In 2000, Sunil Gavaskar argued that the NCA team should not have played the visiting Zimbabwe team, saying "I thought it was unfair on the performers who were not given a chance to play first class matches against touring sides". In response, NCA chair Raj Singh Dungarpur said, "Such people should either resign from the committee, or take it on, or fall in line." Gavaskar resigned as NCA committee member thereon.
In 2014, BCCI collaborated with Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to get expert opinion on the creation of its new structure. The NCA also signed a 5 year agreement with the MRF Pace Foundation to send fast bowlers to Chennai for training.
In 2023, the NCA was under scrutiny with former India head coach Ravi Shastri criticizing the workload management and injury prevention of national team players, claiming that "some have become permanent residents of the NCA".
On 16February 2022, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah announced the construction of a new NCA facility. Plans included three cricket grounds, a gymnasium, 40 practice pitches, a swimming pool and rooms for upcoming players. The new campus became fully operational in 2025, and is now known as the BCCI Centre of Excellence.
Administration Season Chair Director Coaches 2000 Raj Singh Dungarpur Vasu Paranjpe, Roger Binny 2001 Sunil Gavaskar Brijesh Patel Balwinder Sandhu (Chief Coach), K Jayantilal, Roger Binny 2002 Bittu 2003 Chandrakant Pandit, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Kamath, Vaibhav Daga (Physio) 2004 2005 Shivlal Yadav Dinesh Nanavaty, Venkatesh Prasad, Raghuram Bhat, Sanath Kumar, S. Basu 2006 Kapil Dev 2007 Ravi Shastri 2008–2010 Dav Whatmore 2010–2012 Anil Kumblendtv Sandeep Patil 2014–2019 Brijesh PatelPatel set to be NCA director Dr. Kinjal Suratwala (Head, Sports Science & Coach Education), Bharat Arun (Head, Bowling Unit), Dinesh Nanavaty (Head, Batting Unit), V Venkataram (Bowling Coach), R Sridhar (Fielding Coach) 2019–2021Rahul Dravid 2021 VVS Laxman
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