‘CoE cannot be only for contracted players’: VVS Laxman on building India’s cricket pipeline | Cricket News

Bengaluru: Giving up a lucrative IPL contract and a thriving commentary career, Indian batting great VVS Laxman took the administrative plunge in December 2021. What began at a modest facility inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium has since evolved into a much larger assignment, with Laxman now at the helm of the BCCI Centre of Excellence, the state-of-the-art facility on the outskirts of the city.The Hyderabadi, whose playing career was defined by wristy elegance and remarkable resilience, is set to complete his tenure later this year.In an exclusive interview with TOI, Laxman reflects on his journey at the CoE, the changing landscape of Indian cricket and the pathways through which the game can transition, evolve and transform.Excerpts

From a compact facility at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to the expansive centre, how has the journey been?

It has been a very fulfilling journey. When I started in late December 2021, we were working with a relatively small facility, and today we have a much larger and more comprehensive Centre of Excellence. The then BCCI secretary and current ICC chairman, Jay Shah, deserves tremendous credit for having the vision to invest in this facility and create an ecosystem of this scale. I am also grateful to the leadership for giving me the freedom and trust to develop and execute the vision we had for the CoE.

What, according to you, has been the biggest change?

For me, the biggest change is not just the infrastructure but also the ecosystem we have built around it, bringing together coaching, sports science, technology and education.

While contracted players benefit from the facility, how has it been working with domestic players, giving them more access to technology, quality coaching, and support staff?

This is extremely important to the BCCI. The CoE cannot be only for contracted players. If we want to strengthen Indian cricket, we have to strengthen the pathway beneath the international level as well. We are therefore trying to give domestic and pathway players greater access to quality coaching, sports science, performance analysis and technology. The idea is to identify potential early and give players the right environment to develop. Ultimately, CoE should contribute to the entire Indian cricket ecosystem, not just one particular group of players.

Active players have now started taking a keen interest in coaching and are going through the coaching courses. What do you attribute this trend to?

It is a very encouraging trend. Players who have played at the first-class or international level have enormous knowledge and experience, and naturally many of them want to give something back to the game. But playing and coaching are two different skill sets. That is why coach education is important. We help them understand communication, planning, leadership and most importantly, how to transfer their experience to another player. More players are now recognising that their impact on the game can continue well beyond their playing careers.

Are there any sessions for them to mentally transition from players to coaches?

It’s not one session; it’s an ongoing mentoring process. Transition from player to coach doesn’t happen overnight. It is really a change in mindset. As a player, your primary responsibility is your own performance. As a coach, your responsibility is to make other people better. Through our coaching courses, we expose former and current players to communication, leadership, planning, managing different personalities and understanding individual players. The biggest learning is that coaching is not about showing people how much you know, but it is about helping the player discover how much they can achieve.

Can you put down in numbers the high performance camps that CoE conducts across the country in a year?

The scale of our high performance work has grown significantly. Throughout the year, we run programmes across the pathway for both men and women players from the U-16, U-19, and U-23 age groups, as well as targeted specialist skill camps, including fast and spin bowler camps. We now directly support more than 150 players annually, and the impact is clear in the outcomes we are seeing: improved skill levels, stronger readiness for international cricket, and more players progressing successfully through the pathway into higher levels. Our objective is to create a continuous pathway from age group cricket right through to international level.

The setting up of the women’s coaching system — what’s that process been like?

It has been a very exciting process because women’s cricket in India has grown tremendously. The support ecosystem has to grow at the same pace. We are working on a more structured system around women’s cricket. We are also investing in developing coaches and support staff. Importantly, we don’t want to copy the men’s system. Women’s cricket has its own requirements, and we need to develop expertise around those specific needs.

VVS Laxman with women’s cricketers

How much have you enjoyed watching youngsters bloom from CoE, especially the U-19 players with whom you spend a considerable amount of time?

That is one of the most rewarding parts of my role. When you see a young player come into the CoE with potential and then watch him develop not just as a cricketer but also as a person, it gives you enormous satisfaction. With U-19 players, you are dealing with an important stage of their development. You are not just preparing them for the next tournament; you are trying to give them the habits, discipline, resilience, and awareness for a long career. When you subsequently see them progress into India A or senior cricket, it is incredibly satisfying.

VVS Laxman with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

For somebody who’s in a mentorship role, since you’ve travelled so much with the under-19s and the A-teams, what is that one thing that you tell them?

So with the under-19s or the A-teams, it’s about getting better every day as a player in every aspect of their game. So it’s not only about skill, but the mental aspect, the physical aspect, and how they can improve, because at the end of the day, any sport you play, any match you play, if you don’t have that competitive spirit, then you’re not a sports person.So you go out there to perform, you go out there to win the match and win the series, but at the same time, whether it’s with under-19s or with the India players, it’s also about measuring objectively how you’re progressing after every match.It’s satisfying when you see that progress in a player because the whole endeavour is: Can they reach a stage where they can win matches for the senior Indian team in any international fixture and also perform at the highest level?

There has been a lot of focus on camps in the North East; can you elaborate?

The domestic circuit and structure is so robust, and there are so many matches happening across the different age groups. There’s a lot of emphasis on developing the talent in the North-East.So we have camps which are dedicated to the North-East players, men and women from U-19 to senior age group. It’s great to see that every year the quality of those players has definitely gotten better, and the only way it will get better is if they get more exposure.

How do they get more exposure?

By playing against good teams. You test yourself and gain confidence only when you play against good teams and do well; that’s how they get exposure.

How has the introduction of the U-15 category for women helped in identifying players?

We started it three years ago. It allows us to strengthen the bench and see players develop. We have players from the first batch who went on to play for India. G Kamalini was in the first batch of the U-15 tournament, and she played for India. So it’s great to see not only the boys, but also the girls, benefiting from the various tournaments and camps we run under the BCCI umbrella.

When you switch roles from administrator to mentor coach, does it help that you see these players up close as an administrator?

Coaching and mentoring come naturally because, as an India player, my interactions with the youngsters were always very seamless and holistic. You share your experiences, help them evolve and develop as cricketers, and maximise their potential.The administration part is obviously a different experience, and luckily again, the structures in the BCCI system made that seamless as well. The best part of this role is getting to see so many players come, perform, get selected, attend the camps, and repeat the process the next year.So it’s great to see some of the players who were attending the U-19 camps in 2022 playing for India in 2025-26.

When you look back at the almost five years of your journey at NCA/CoE, what’s the most satisfying aspect?

The most satisfying thing has been seeing the ecosystem come together. It is not about one facility or one individual. It is about coaches, SSM professionals, performance analysts, grounds staff, administrators and players all working towards the same objective. I am particularly proud that the CoE has evolved into a place where players don’t come only when they are injured. They come to develop their skills, improve physically, learn and become better cricketers.The most fulfilling part of this journey as the CoE head of cricket has been seeing the players’ transformation, and we hope they’ve now achieved their dream and will continue to bring laurels to the country.Ultimately, the real success will be when these systems continue to benefit Indian cricket for many years to come.