BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia recently had a meeting with VVS Laxman, head of the Centre of Excellence (CoE), to review activities at the centre and discuss the future course of action.

The board president Mithun Manhas and vice-president Rajeev Shukla were also part of the meeting, which took place at the BCCI headquarters at the stadium.

“Had a fruitful meeting with VVS Laxman, Head of BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, in the presence of BCCI office-bearers today at Mumbai. Reviewed current activities and charted the roadmap for the Centre’s future course, aimed at further strengthening India’s cricketing talent pipeline," Saikia posted on X.

“We assessed the vacancies at CoE and decided to go ahead with the recruitment process soon. There is acute shortage of technical personnel worldwide but we are trying to fill the positions at the earliest," Saikia was quoted as saying by PTI.

On review of the operations at CoE and the way forward, Saikia remarked: “We thought it was an appropriate time to review the preparations and activities of CoE.

“We are hosting matches in the three grounds there (including the ongoing Vijay Hazare). We also talked about how the A tours need to be scheduled going forward.

“In certain situations, the A side and 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," he added.

About a year ago, the BCCI announced plans to expand the CoE to better develop young cricketers, providing them with world-class facilities necessary for their success.

VVS Laxman has been associated with CoE since 2021. Speculations are rife that BCCI is considering Laxman for the role of India Test coach as the national team is not doing well under Gautam Gambhir in red-ball cricket. However, some reports claim that Laxman is reluctant to leave his current post as CoE chief due to the extensive travel involved in the coaching job.