BCCI’s Road-map Meeting

Since the day Anil Kumble has taken over as India’s head coach, he has repeatedly been proving himself to be the first of his kind. Be it the “One Hour Challenge” or the “Bond Over Music” session, India’s new head coach has been indulging the players, staff and management in varies interesting activities. Following these?came BCCI’s?turn for its first ever road-map meeting.

Kumble organised a meeting for?those involved with the national senior and junior sides,?outside Team India’s conditioning camp in Bangalore.?The meeting, which took place on Sunday, was organised with the primary motive of bringing “all stakeholders on the same page.”

Various attendants of the meeting were, the two captains, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid ,coaches of the senior and junior sides,?Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, Venkatesh Prasad, the head of the junior selection committee, WV Raman and Narendra Hirwani (batting and spin bowling coaches at the National Cricket Academy), Patrick Farhat (India physio), Andrew Leipus (NCA physio), Shankar Basu, India’s trainer, and MV Sridhar, BCCI’s general manager.

The session lasted a couple of hours. It was primarily aimed at?devising plans to lift India to the top of the world rankings in various formats, and to ensure that the various support systems play a?fitting role in achieving this?goal.

A release by BCCI stated,?”Issues ranging from domestic cricket set-up, India A tours, injury management, workload of the players, and strengthening the bench strength of Indian cricket were discussed in detail to synchronise the efforts of everyone working for the betterment of Indian cricket.”

Kumble and Dravid discussed a need to build up a strong connection between the senior side and the A team. BCCI lacks a regular list-A program, whereas boards like Cricket Australia and ECB already have one established.?After coming on board as A team coach last year, Dravid has been advocating for the need to have one.? If things go as per plan, then Kumble, as head coach of the senior side, will work closely with Dravid to monitor the fringe players.

As the meeting concluded,??it seemed?both Dhoni and Kohli were keen to ensure proper monitoring?of?players’ fitness reports, to make sure they were in peak fitness and ready to play before being?picked for a series.

“Sitting here, we all have one intention and agenda: to align our actions to maximise the potential of Indian Cricket. For that, we all need to work as one unit”, said Kumble, calling the meeting a very fruitful exercise.

Other members attending the meeting said it was a significant development and they welcomed the idea of the free exchange of information, with everyone being kept in the loop.