Some of the players who attended the courses include Uthappa, Kanitkar, Mukund, Powar, Jaffer, Balaji, among others

For the first time in Indian cricket, the BCCI has conducted two Fast Track Level 2 coaching courses at the NCA in Bengaluru for international and domestic players who have played over 75 first-class games. Some of the prominent names who attended the courses included former players Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Abhinav Mukund, Ramesh Powar, Wasim Jaffer, Sarandeep Singh, Debasis Mohanty, Vinay Kumar, L Balaji and Robin Uthappa.

Indian players have in the past taken similar certification form the ECB and Cricket Australia, but for the first time the BCCI has initiated such a move to promote home-grown coaching at the NCA, under its head Rahul Dravid.

A BCCI release stated: “A wide array of topics was covered, including Skill Acquisition, Applied Biomechanics in Pace Bowling, Spin Bowling, Batting, Wicket-Keeping, Building Social and Personal Competence, Video Analysis etc.”

The courses were held in a hybrid model because of the ongoing pandemic, where phase 1 was conducted online over four days and phase 2 was held at the NCA over the next four days.

“The experience gained through the rigours of playing first-class and international cricket coupled with knowledge of the technical and tactical intricacies of our game makes for a great combination for a coach,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said in the release. “I believe we have some of the best coaching talents in the world and these courses conducted by the NCA will greatly benefit not only those that have participated in it but also the next generation of cricketers who will be coached by these coaches.”

Board secretary Jay Shah said: “It is heartening to see former and current cricketers taking up this opportunity to upskill themselves as coaches. The future of Indian Cricket continues to remain bright given the continued involvement and enthusiasm of some of our cricketers even post their playing careers.”