Sourav Ganguly holds talks with Rahul Dravid about National Cricket Academy’s future

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly will meet former teammate and head of National Cricket Academy Rahul Dravid on Wednesday to discuss the roadmap of Indian cricket’s feeder line.

Dravid, who took charge as NCA chief in July, has already drawn a roadmap for the institution and Ganguly gave his inputs when the two former captains met.

For the past few years NCA, which was supposed to be the supply line of Indian cricket, has become a rehabilitation centre, which even Ganguly acknowledged after taking over.

Ganguly is expected to be updated on the new NCA project, which is being developed. “Ganguly and Dravid will be discussing the way forward for NCA and the issues it faces,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

It has seen whether the new president seeks details on the rehabilitation plans of players like Prithvi Shaw, who will be back from suspension along with strength and conditioning programmes for Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

Many former players including VVS Laxman and India head coach Ravi Shastri have high expectations from the celebrated duo of Ganguly and Dravid. “If you ask me one thing, it would be how Sourav can revive the NCA. The greatness of this Indian team is their bench strength,” Laxman had said last week.

A new 25-acre deal

BCCI had signed a 25-acre deal with the Karnataka government in May and now it has got an additional 15 acres of land from the government for setting up the Centre of Excellence near the Bengaluru international airport.

The NCA, which was supposed to be the supply line of Indian cricket, has actually become a rehabilitation centre, which even Ganguly acknowledged after taking over.

It is currently situated adjacent to the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the BCCI has been trying for alternate location to set up the NCA with state-of-the-art facilities.

The land allocated for the construction of the new facility is near the Kempegowda International Airport in Devanahalli and is likely to accommodate three grounds, apart from indoor nets, administrative buildings, and the hostels.