BCCI secretary Jay Shah lays foundation stone for new NCA campus

Jay Shah, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were present as the foundation stone was laid for the new National Cricket Academy facility.

Sourav Ganguly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, laid the foundation stone for the new National Cricket Academy (NCA) campus in Bengaluru on Monday (14 February).

Ganguly took to Twitter to share pictures from the event.

"The new National cricket Academy starts from today ..laid the foundation stone of the new place today in Bengaluru," he wrote.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah also shared pictures from the event.

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, NCA head VVS Laxman and Pragyan Ojha, who is a member of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council, were also present at the event in Bengaluru.

The event took place a day after the conclusion of the IPL 2022 mega auction, which was held at the ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru.

New NCA campus to have 40 practice pitches, creche for cricketers' children

The new National Cricket Academy campus in Bengaluru will reportedly have a 16,000 sq ft gymnasium and 40 practice pitches, out of which 20 will have floodlights.

There will also be 243 rooms for various purposes.

Reportedly, the campus will have a creche for the cricketers' children.

According to its blueprint, accessed by news agency IANS, these and many other world class facilities including indoor training for futsal, squash, badminton, basketball, tennis, cycling track and temperature-controlled pool. Ancillary provisions such as pharmacy, courier dispatch facility, bank, ATM, salon, tuck shops will come up on a 40 acre piece of land in Devanahalli Taluk, near the Bengaluru international airport.

The new campus will come up in two phases.

Currently, the NCA is located at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

It was started in 2000, and is responsible for the development of young cricketers in the country. It also helps with the rehabilitation of injured cricketers.