VVS Laxman, who is the head of the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE), has revealed that he was offered the post of India head coach in 2023, but he declined to take up the role due to personal reasons and decided to continue leading the CoE and contribute to the development of the Indian players at a facility in Bengaluru.
The growing list of injured players has put Laxman under pressure, and the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia met the former player on Sunday to review the injury management and rehabilitation of the cricketers. Saikia and Laxman also attended the press conference in the presence of BCCI president Mithun Manhas and other senior officials.
“I was supposed to become the head coach of India but refused to take up the role. I couldn’t become India coach due to personal reasons. I had a word with Jay (Shah), and he understood my reasons. He and the BCCI gave me the freedom, and now the same vision continues with Devajit and other office-bearers,” he said.
“I agreed for a two-year extension. I told the BCCI that I am not taking the head coach position, but I will make sure to establish the CoE. I want to make sure that structure, processes and the protocols are in place before I move on,” he added.
In September 2024, the then BCCI secretary Jay Shah inaugurated the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence and replaced the previous facility, which was functional at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium as the National Cricket Academy.
The new facility is a place to nurture cricketing talent and manage rehabilitation with the help of advanced sports science in India. The Centre of Excellence has 86 wickets, including indoor and outdoor areas.
In late 2021, Laxman replaced Rahul Dravid as the head of the CoE, with the latter joining Team India as head coach.
Laxman has been heading the CoE since then, and the facility has become a second home to the national players. Laxman has also coached India in between when the regular head of the support staff, Gautam Gambhir, has taken a break from coaching responsibilities.
Some of the former players have lauded Laxman for his coaching and urged the BCCI to sack Gambhir after India’s failures across formats in recent times. However, the Hyderabad-based batter is not interested in a full-time coaching stint at the moment and is happy with his current role in Bengaluru.