Cricketer VVS Laxman. | Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K
Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman is set to extend his tenure as the head of the Bengaluru-based National Cricket Academy (NCA) for at least a year, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Laxman became the head of NCA for three years in December 2021. His contract was to expire in September this year.
According to ESPNcricinfo, an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise wanted to acquire Laxman’s services, which was not possible due to his duties as the NCA head.
Laxman is likely to get the support of India’s veteran domestic players as his team of coaches includes Shitanshu Kotak, Sairaj Bahutule and Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Laxman’s tenure extension comes ahead of the inauguration of the new National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and Laxman laid the foundation stone for the new facility in February 2022.
The NCA’s current campus, located at the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Karnataka, was established in 2000 as a cricket facility of the BCCI to train young cricketers identified as potential members of the future Indian cricket team.
It is also used for rehabilitation of players when they get injured. VVS Laxman is the current head of NCA.
During his tenure as NCA head, Laxman continued various processes set by his predecessor Rahul Dravid.
The biggest challenge for him will be to restore the frequency of India A’s tour schedule, which has gradually reduced over the last two years.
India A’s domestic and overseas tours were quite frequent during Dravid’s reign.
During his playing days, Laxman represented Team India in 134 Test matches and scored 8,781 runs in 225 innings at an average of 45.97.
He also scored 17 centuries and 56 half-centuries with his bat and his best score in this format is 281. He also played 86 ODIs for India, scoring 2,338 runs at an average of 30.76.
He scored six centuries and ten half-centuries in this format, with 131 being his best score.