The secret of India's massive 'supply chain' of cricketers

VVS Laxman admitted that he took over as the chief of BCCI Centre of Excellence with trepidation, but now he is a contented person after setting in place a robust bench strength that will allow India to dominate world cricket for the next 10 years, if not more.

Laxman took over as the head of the erstwhile National Cricket Academy (NCA) in 2021 from his one-time teammate Rahul Dravid, and built on the excellent platform that was already laid out.

“I can say with a lot of confidence, barring a couple of skillsets, I think, for the next 10 years, we've got a lot of players who will make our country proud. I'm not only talking about men's, but also women's as well. We're blessed to have that kind of talent,” Laxman told a select media gathering at the Centre of Excellence.

He said India's dominance in world cricket is a perfect reflection of a steady “supply chain.”

“Everyone talks about why Indian team is at the helm. We won the (T20) World Cup (2024) in the West Indies which was a great result. But if you see all the three formats, we have dominated.

“Not only the rankings, we have dominated. There is so much of supply chain as far as cricket is concerned. That means the amount of players we have at our disposal, it is a real blessing.”

The 49-year-old said “grooming” the players, without tinkering with their natural game, was essential to maintain that “supply chain.”

“The whole idea is to monitor them, how to groom them, so that they realise their potential. It's not that we dictate them (players) that you have to do this or you have to change (technique).

“Ultimately the player should feel comfortable, acknowledging and accepting that option. We don't want the player to suddenly feel the burden of whose advice he has to listen to.”

The former India batter then described how monitoring of the “targeted” players was done at the CoE.

“When Rahul was the head coach of the Indian team, he used to take care of the contracted players and we at NCA used to take care of the targeted players, emerging players and the under-19 players.

“We know what are the areas they are required to work on. And through the year, we make sure that the player is working on them.”

For this purpose, Laxman said he and the other support staff have created a wonderful synergy with various state associations to ensure continuity and similarity in coaching.

“So, we collaborate with the state coaches because ultimately the state association coaches spend a lot more time with a player than what we do. We also have an athlete management system. A profile is created for all the players who come and attend the ZCA and the NCA camps…right from their reports of skills to the fitness to the musculoskeletal screening report.

“Now, we are going to even request the state association to follow that process. So, at least 50 players of each state association -- 25 men and 25 women -- should be there on the watch list. So, the whole idea is, if a player comes to NCA or is part of any ZCA camp, 5 or even 10 years from now, his file should be there.

“We will know how the player has progressed and it will become very easy for anyone who is taking care of that player to know what the player has gone through every year,” he elaborated on the process.

Along with the skill enhancement, Laxman said keeping the players in a right mental state is important for their growth.

“The players themselves are so professional. They understand what is needed for them to be in the best mindset when they are competing at the highest level. As far as the junior cricketers are concerned, we have got mental conditioners who spend 8 to 10 days with the players.

Laxman described the significance of ‘A' tours in preparing a player to tackle all kind of conditions that he may encounter in future.

“Every year we make sure that we have at least two A Series. Sometimes it can be challenging because we want to have an A Series whereas the other boards will be busy with their own domestic cricket. Or they may not be ready to accommodate us.

"But at least we try to have two A Series. The A programme allows us to go to different parts of the world and get experience. So that when they graduate to the national team, it is not a surprise to them," added Laxman.