Former India cricketer VVS Laxman, now Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), highlighted the need for diverse training conditions for players to develop the adaptability skills required to thrive in international cricket.
“Adaptability is nothing but creating situations a player gets to confront during the matches so that you can create by having a lot of match simulations or playing many matches. You create different scenarios where the player is put into that position or situation he will confront. As far as the pitches are concerned, sometimes you can give a green top,” said Laxman during an interaction held on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Centre of Excellence near Bengaluru.
Laxman, who took over as the head of NCA after Rahul Dravid left the role to become India’s head coach, emphasised that the facility in Bengaluru is well suited to foster the skill of adaptability in Indian players.
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“Luckily, this (the facility) being in Bangalore, the weather is a big boon. We all know that in Bangalore, we can have a lot of cricket throughout the year and throughout the day. With three different soils, you can make different kind of pitches for them. Turning tracks, seam friendly based on what time of the day the wicket may behave differently. It‘s all about adapting to different pitch conditions. These are the two things which we require our players to work on so that when they are playing at the highest level, they are ready for different challenges,” said Laxman.
The 49-year-old former Indian batter also spoke about the India-A programme, which has played a vital role in in setting up India’s domination in Tests.
“Every year we make sure that we have at least two A series. Sometimes it can be challenging because we want to have an A series whereas the other boards will be busy with their own domestic cricket. Or they may not be ready to accommodate us. But at least we try to have two A series. We want all our players not to miss too much of domestic cricket, so I think the A programme allows us to go to different parts of the world and get experience,” said Laxman.
Laxman pointed out the variety of challenges the India-A side has encountered in recent times and the role the Bengaluru facility will play in the team’s progression.
“We are going to Australia in November. End of October and November we will be playing three matches in Australia. Twice we have been to South Africa. Hopefully we will go to New Zealand and next year there is a tour to England, which is already lined up. At home, we played against England at the start of this year. We played against New Zealand two years back. We went to Bangladesh – even though we wanted to play on rank turners, they gave us green top there unfortunately.”
“But it is just about getting exposure to different kinds of conditions so that when they graduate to the national team, they are ready. It is not a surprise to them. That is the whole objective of the A programme. The pitches here will allow them to improve their adaptability. And the three beautiful grounds will allow them to face any situation with a lot of confidence,” added Laxman.
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