From 40 acres of barren land to BCCI CoE: How Jay Shah turned a dream into reality
The BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru is nearing its second anniversary, but the facility's journey began with a 40-acre stretch of land that had
The BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru is nearing its second anniversary, but the facility's journey began with a 40-acre stretch of land that had been lying idle and a plan to build a permanent home for Indian cricket's development. The project took shape after the BCCI decided to move away from the temporary arrangement of the Cricket Academy, with former secretary Jay Shah playing a key role in pushing the project through. Read Full Story BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia recalled how Shah brought the board's top officials together and insisted that the project be completed on a war footing. "He took everybody on board in BCCI's Apex Council and made a firm decision that this establishment (CoE) has to be done on a war footing, and we need to move on from the old, temporary arrangement of Cricket Academy," Saikia told select media at the BCCI CoE. The first major hurdle was not construction but getting the land ready for the project. The 40 acres had been lying unused and the BCCI had to clear several legal and regulatory issues before work could begin. VIDEO | The BCCI Centre of Excellence chief VVS Laxman on Sunday said the hunt for a suitable candidate to fill the role of Head of Sports Science and Medicine at the facility is still on despite Nitin Patel quitting the post almost 18 months ago.
In this interim, Dhananjay pic.twitter.com/WhiFofyNb Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 9, 2026 "Jay came here personally on several occasions to clear all the legal hurdles to start the work, because a lot of regulations are to be followed once we have to start a proper project and on top of that, we have to regularise the land," Saikia said. Regularising the land proved to be the biggest challenge for the administrators involved in the project. "That was the biggest challenge, because this kind of land, 40 acres, was lying idle, and a lot of people wanted to take it back. So everything had to be cleared before the work started from 14th February 2022," Saikia added. The project also involved a transition from the old NCA setup, with former India captain Roger Binny and VVS Laxman playing their parts during the process. "But the transition was a challenge. Roger Binny was there, and we have taken the help of VVS Laxman who by that time, was part of this scheme," Saikia said. Laxman, who was part of the transition, recalled how Shah and then BCCI president Sourav Ganguly approached him in 2021 and asked him to move to Bengaluru after Rahul Dravid took over as the India head coach.
"In 2021, when Jay and then BCCI president Sourav (Ganguly) reached out to me, saying that Rahul (Dravid) is moving to the Indian team as the head coach, and we want that continuity. "It was a tough decision for me. But as a cricketer, I always thought that it's the responsibility of former cricketers who benefited through this great game to contribute back to the game. And with that intention, obviously, I moved to Bangalore in December 2021," he said. Laxman also saw first-hand the amount of work that went into turning the plan into a functioning facility. He credited Shah for his involvement in the project and recalled the meetings with the architects and L&T team. "In the span of close to two years, the entire infrastructure was up and running. And huge credit to Jay, because he was the secretary of the BCCI and I myself seen firsthand how much interest he used to take in various meetings we used to have with the architects, with the L&T team, to make sure that each and every aspect of the COE, or then NCA, is taken care of," Laxman said. For Laxman, the Centre of Excellence was an example of a vision being taken through to its completion.
The BriefWire