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From 40 acres of land lying idle to a sprawling, state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence (CoE), the transformation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s premier cricketing facility stands as a testament to the vision and determined efforts of former BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and the organisation's leadership.
As the Centre of Excellence approaches its second anniversary, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia recalled Shah's pivotal role in bringing the ambitious project to fruition, highlighting his efforts to bring all stakeholders onto the same page and ensure that the project moved forward on a war footing. "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. 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," said Devajit Saikia, Secretary, BCCI, as quoted by a press release. Saikia highlighted that regularising the 40-acre land was one of the biggest challenges faced 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. The journey also involved the transition from the National Cricket Academy to the new Centre of Excellence, with former India cricketer VVS Laxman playing an important role in the process. Recalling his own involvement, Laxman had earlier said 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 Rahul Dravid's move to the Indian team as head coach. 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. The BCCI Centre of Excellence, which became operational in November 2024, today stands as the realisation of that vision, with the project moving from an ambitious idea to a world-class cricketing facility in a remarkably short span of time. (ANI)
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