Indian cricket is quietly preparing for some important changes as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) looks to fix the issues that have started appearing especially in red-ball cricket. The Board is now completely focused on shaping the future of India’s talent system.
BCCI calls emergency meeting on Test cricket crisis; Centers of excellence and red-ball reforms are in focus
Concerned over India’s recent Test defeats and systemic issues in player development, the BCCI held a high-level emergency meeting at its Mumbai headquarters on 9 January. BCCI secretary Devjit Saikia sits with National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief VVS Laxman in Bengaluru.
The meeting was attended by several top BCCI officials including new board president Mithun Manhas, vice president Rajeev Shukla, treasurer Prabhtej Singh Bhatia and GM Abe Kuruvilla. The objective of the meeting was to review what the Center of Excellence (CoE) is currently doing and focus on the immediate interventions required to secure the future of red-ball cricket in India.
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Trigger: A growing red-ball crisis
The big topic during the meeting was India’s recent poor results in Test cricket at home. India has lost five of its last seven home Tests. Three of these defeats came against New Zealand in 2024. Recently, India lost two home tests to South Africa.
BCCI Secretary has said that young players are losing their defensive skills. With the widespread influence of IPL and white ball cricket, many youngsters are more interested in aggressive shots and scoring fast runs. As a result, the fundamentals of red-ball cricket are being neglected and Saikia feels there is an urgent need to improve in this area.
A productive meeting was held with VVS Laxman, Head of BCCI Center of Excellence, in the presence of BCCI officials in Mumbai today. Reviewed the current activities and prepared a roadmap for the future of the Centre, which aims to further strengthen India’s cricket talent… pic.twitter.com/nw1PibqDV1
– Devjit Lon Saikia (@lonsaikia) 9 January 2026
PTI quoted Devjit Saikia as saying, “Many young players get attracted towards white-ball cricket after watching the IPL. They see new shots being played like the reverse sweep, so all their focus is on improving their attacking game. We have to work to maintain their interest in red-ball cricket.”
It was discussed that we need to improve his defensive skills, the art of staying at the crease for a long time. The areas have been identified. We will hold more meetings for implementation. There are some reasons why we are not able to perform that well in red ball cricket. It was a soul-searching exercise.
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Center of Excellence Review: Identifying Critical Shortcomings
A major agenda point was the showcase of the Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, considered the backbone of India’s talent system. The CoE has been operational since April last year.
However, the Indian cricket board acknowledged that some very important technical roles are still vacant, including the head of education and head of sports science. These positions are important to groom young cricketers properly.
The BCCI Secretary said, “We thought it was an appropriate time to review the preparedness and activities of the CoE. We assessed the vacancies in the CoE and decided to go ahead with the recruitment process soon. There is an acute shortage of technical personnel across the world, but we are trying to fill the posts as soon as possible.”
Fixing the “A” Team Pipeline and Calendar
The meeting highlighted poor schedule coordination between the senior Indian cricket team and India A tours, leading to resource conflicts. He felt that better planning was needed for the program as the India A tour plays a very important role in grooming players for the senior team and keeping the talent pipeline strong.
Saikia said, “We are hosting matches at three grounds there (including the existing Vijay Hazare). We also talked about how the A tours should be scheduled going forward. In some situations, the A side and the senior team are touring together at the same time. We need to ensure that there is no overlapping. A tour is an important supply line of cricketers.”
Addressing the U-19 system
India’s defeat in the Under-19 Asia Cup 2025 final has raised doubts over how effective the Center of Excellence (CoE) is in developing young players. Before facing humiliation against Pakistan, the India Under-19 team had lost to Bangladesh in the U19 Asia Cup 2024 and then to Australia in the U19 World Cup 2024 final.
In response to recent failures, the BCCI has decided to strengthen the Under-19 system by giving players more match experience. The board plans to add more bilateral series and tournaments for the Under-19 team so that the players face more pressure situations to prepare for the big games.