Amid Recovery Delays, BCCI Invites Applications for Head of Sports Science and Medicine at Bengaluru CoE

The BCCI has invited applications for the post of Head of Sports Science and Medicine at its Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The move comes as injuries in Indian cricket keep rising and rehab periods stay long.

The opening, announced on Friday, comes in a year when the board’s Centre of Excellence has faced sustained scrutiny over recurring fitness issues. Earlier this year, board secretary Devajit Saikia and VVS Laxman addressed the media on the work being done at the centre. At that time, Laxman said the CoE is more than a “rehabilitation centre”. The last day to apply remains September 30.

The vacancy has stayed open even as questions have grown over injury management and player recovery.

Vacancy Follows Scrutiny

The role has been vacant since Nitin Patel resigned last year. Laxman had flagged that gap when he rejected the suggestion that there was any miscommunication among players, team management and the CoE on injury management. 

“After Nitin Patel's exit, we didn't get anyone. With Andrew Leipus, everything was agreed upon. But at the last minute, he backed off, citing family reasons. We then had a panel comprising Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, Dr Ashish Soni and me, which shortlisted five candidates,” Laxman told reporters. 

A month after that media interaction, the BCCI finally invited applications for the position.

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Injury Concerns Intensify

Injury management has stayed at the centre of discussion. A BCCI review meeting a few days ago discussed the issue with board secretary Saikia, Laxman, head coach Gautam Gambhir and ODI, Test and T20Is captains Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer involved.

Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy were included in the squad for the series against Afghanistan, subject to fitness clearance

Harshit Rana was later ruled out after another setback in his recovery and was replaced by Yash Thakur for the Afghanistan assignment and the Asian Games.

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All About The Role

The new head will shape the BCCI’s long-term approach to player health, injury prevention, rehabilitation and physical development. Player welfare will be at the heart of the position.

The appointee will be responsible for strengthening systems to reduce injury risk, manage rehabilitation and recovery, monitor wellness and illness, and support players' long-term physical development. The successful candidate will provide strategic and operational leadership to BCCI’s Sports Science and Medicine services across its elite cricket and CoE programmes.

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The role will also involve line management of the Head of Physiotherapy (CoE), Team India Head of Physiotherapy, Head S&C (CoE) and Team India S&C. The appointee will work closely with National and CoE coaches, Cricket Education and other performance specialists to deliver integrated support programmes for Indian players.