Cricket news - BCCI wants hub for sports medicine research at proposed centre of excellence

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has had talks with medical research institutes and universities in a bid to make its upcoming centre of excellence in Bengaluru a ground for sports medicine research, TOI has learnt. The BCCI also wants to create a sports medicine curriculum and upgrade the qualification criteria of physios and trainers.

All this is part of BCCI's long term plan to build a centre of excellence spread over 40 acres of land and shift the operations of the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The project, estimated to cost around Rs 500 crore, is running six months late.

Operations at NCA have been under the scanner for some time now and the handling of Wriddhiman Saha's injury has put a question mark on its relevance. NCA COO Tufan Ghosh, brought in to play a key role in setting up the facility and creating a centre of excellence, said, "I can't give you the details but we are already in talks with a leading university in Bangalore."

According to the blueprint, accessed by TOI, BCCI feels it requires the affiliation of medical universities and research institutes to groom physiotherapists and trainers and increase the number of referral doctors so that botched up cases are minimised.

Interestingly, Ghosh had been involved with hospital operations before taking up his role at the NCA in Dec 2017.

To keep up with the fitness standards of modern-day sport, BCCI has also upgraded the qualification certification for its recognised trainers. The strength and conditioning coaches, simply referred to as trainers, need to be certified either from the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA) Level 2, UK Strength and Condition Association (UKSCA) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS). These parameters have been set by Team India trainer Shankar Basu and his team at the NCA.

"There are no institutes in India that offer these courses. There is only one which can train you for the ASCA Level 1 degree. Generally, trainers register online and take the tests. Thus, the process is quite tough," BCCI official said. "This will bring about uniformity in trainers across the country and it will also help Indian trainers making it to the IPL teams. This will help in monitoring the players round the year."

Administrative uncertainty

While the process of setting up the centre of excellence has been delayed by administrative uncertainties plaguing BCCI for the last two years, the board is looking to get the cricketing facilities ready over the next 18 months. Ghosh refused to comment on the reasons behind the delay. According to the initial project plan, the BCCI wants to get at least four full grounds ready by the end of 2020. The plan talks about 'mimicking pitch conditions across the world - importing clay and soil and making hybrid pitches'. These grounds will be used for practice games, trial matches and other BCCI events.