BCCI to get its own home ground in Bengaluru once NCA is constructed

For years now the BCCI has been headquartered at the legendary Wankhede Stadium of Mumbai. The stadium has been special for Indian Cricket on a good many occasions, including on the night of April 2 when India lifted the fifty overs world cup for the second time. However, the time has perhaps come for the Board to get their own premise and they very much plan to do so with the construction of the new National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

BCCI has been planning the academy for a while and finally, the erection of the structure will be done over the next two years on the Board-owned 40 acre plot of land in the outskirt areas of Bengaluru. But it might prove to be more than that. Many of the top officials of the Committee of Administrators are of the opinion that BCCI should shift its base from Mumbai to this would-be built premise in the fringes of the Garden City to take full advantage of a self-owned facility. The current headquarter in Mumbai is a rented one.

The acting president of BCCI – CK Khanna has written a letter along these lines to all the board members. In the letter, he makes the suggestion that since the current administration is lacking in good enough infrastructure and facilities, the facility meant for the NCA project should also be used as a new center – it is closer to the airport and big enough to fit a state-of-the-art headquarter.

Board does not have proper premises: Khanna

“People are of the strong view that present administrative premises of the Board do not have adequate and appropriate office infrastructure nor there is any further scope of expansion,” Khanna wrote in his letter so that the issue can be discussed in the governing body meeting. I strongly suggest that since BCCI has acquired 40 acres of land at Bengaluru which is in the close vicinity of the airport for its most ambitious project of NCA, this whole land can be used optimally if along with NCA,” he said.

Furthermore, the COA also likes the idea of using the same NCA premise for any meeting or conferences held between the officials, which otherwise take place in five-star hotels of the major cities and add up to a huge accommodation cost.

And as it turns out, the president agrees. In his letter, he wrote, “This plot after earmarking major part of the land for NCA on the advice of experts, may also be used for BCCI’s new office and residential accommodation, after assessing the need for various categories of guests that are likely to use the same such as our own Board officials, affiliated states officials, VIP guests, cricketers and others.”

Earlier, the COA mentioned in their report that traveling around of acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary for almost 25 days every month is costing the Board hotel charges in crores. Clearly, Khanna wants to fix that as much as possible in the near future by conducting all the meetings in BCCI’s new ‘home ground’. It is definitely a good call since along with cost-cutting, it will also be quite convenient to have the VIP guests, board members and cricketers in the same accommodation instead of spending a lot on other five star facilities.

Follow https://www.crictracker.com for latest cricketing news.