The BCCI Centre of Excellence has encountered significant obstacles in its efforts to appoint a new Head of Sports Science and Medicine to replace Nitin Patel, who vacated the role in March 2025. VVS Laxman, the head of the Centre of Excellence (CoE), revealed that the recruitment process has been hampered by a series of last-minute withdrawals from top candidates. Among those was Andrew Leipus, the former Indian men’s team physiotherapist who served from 1999 to 2005 and later at the National Cricket Academy between 2015 and 2017. Despite reaching an agreement following multiple meetings with BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, Leipus withdrew at the final stage citing family reasons. Laxman noted that the BCCI had approached Leipus due to his previous involvement in the 2022 interview process that originally selected Patel.
Following the setback with Leipus, the BCCI initiated a new search that shortlisted five candidates. The top-ranked candidate, an Australian professional, was selected but subsequently withdrew, stating he could not relocate to Bengaluru. Laxman explained that the role requires a full-time, Bengaluru-based commitment for day-to-day monitoring under his direct purview, rather than a consulting or part-time arrangement. A third near-miss occurred when the head of Sports Science for the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, also agreed to the position before backing out at the last moment.
In the absence of a permanent head, the existing sports science team has been stepping up to manage operations. Laxman emphasized the necessity of standardizing fitness protocols across all state associations to ensure that players transitioning to the national team or targeted groups do not experience significant disparities in training. Currently, each zonal SSM head oversees five associations, traveling throughout the year to interact with local staff. For cases deemed too complex for the state level, the zonal SSM relays them to the CoE rehab team for specialized care. However, finding qualified personnel at the state level has also been an onerous task, as the interview process could only identify seven quality professionals. Laxman noted that the search continues for a candidate who possesses not only the required stature and experience but also a deep understanding of Indian cricketers. Devajit Saikia added that while the current technical team maintains a certain standard, the board is facing problems due to an acute global shortage of qualified individuals, despite repeated processes being conducted to find the right person.
“Now, it is our responsibility to upskill them, while looking to identify someone of that stature and experience and knowledge”.
Because of acute shortage, I should say, we are not getting the person.
