NCA to spread wings across India

CHENNAI: The buzz was there for a while, but now it's official.
The National Cricket Academy (NCA) will be decentralised and will have separate units in three different cities - Mumbai, Chennai and Chandigarh. The batting and bowling wings will be in Mumbai and Chandigarh respectively while the spinners and the wicketkeepers will polish their tricks in Chennai.It's understood that the three academies will be operational from May 1. The Board mandarins took the decision here on Wednesday following a consultation with some of the coaches who are set to be appointed. .
"The three wings will be for the U-16 and U-19 categories and it will be a round-the-year affair. Talented players from different zones will be spotted and they will stay at these academies where they will undergo skill-specific training," a BCCI source pointed out, preferring anonymity.
Earlier, there used to be Zonal Cricket Academies at five centres where the talented players from different zones used to get training for a month. But there were complaints that the follow-up programme wasn't too sound and the BCCI took note of that.
"At these academies, the coaches will be able to monitor the talented players right through the year," the source added.
However, it was told that the importance of the NCA in Bangalore will not be diminished. It will stay as the main centre where the national U-16 and U-19 teams will train. "Basically, Bangalore will be the headquarters with these three being the branches. At times, there was too much pressure on the Bangalore centre and that's why we have decided to decentralise it," the source pointed out.
Talking about the Chennai centre, the official said that the spinners and the wicketkeepers have been clubbed together so that the keepers learn the tricks of the trade on turning tracks. "Keeping to spinners is the biggest challenge for keepers in the subcontinent. That's why we have selected these categories together," the official added.
The BCCI also wants the coaches to be full-timers and that's why former players associated with commentary haven't been considered. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, one of the coaches chosen for the job, has assured the Board that he will sacrifice his commentary assignments for being a full-timer at the Chennai wing.
LIST OF COACHES:
* Bowling wing: Karsan Ghavri, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Madan Lal
* Spinners and wicketkeepers wing: Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Erapalli Prasanna, D. Vasu, Vijay Yadav, Samir Dighe
* Batting wing: Lalchand Rajput, Bhaskar Pillay, third name to be finalised.