Bengaluru, Aug 9 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has hit a major roadblock in its attempt to appoint a Head of Sports Science and Medicine (SSM) at its Centre of Excellence (CoE), with multiple high-profile international candidates backing out after nearing agreement.

Speaking to reporters at the high-performance facility, CoE head VVS Laxman disclosed that despite extensive global recruitment drives, top choices, including a leading Australian expert and the former sports science head of the famous All Blacks rugby team, withdrew from the process at the final stage.

The SSM head post has been vacant since Nitin Patel, the former India men’s team physio, left the facility after March 2025. “I think we have done a very extensive interview process. Andrew was part of the interview process when Nitin was selected in 2012. That’s why we reached out to Andrew the moment we got to know that Nitin didn’t want to continue or his term was getting finished.

“Andrew almost agreed and then backed out. Now, the second interview process was an extensive one. I can share, the first candidate was from Australia. The second and third candidates are already working at the CoE.

“Now, it’s our responsibility to upskill them while looking to identify someone of that stature and experience and knowledge. So that process, it’s not that the BCCI is not looking now for the suitable candidate, but you have to find the right candidate,” said Laxman.

Highlighting the scarcity of qualified personnel capable of managing elite athletes, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia acknowledged the difficulty in finding an expert who meets the board’s high benchmarks.

“In fact, it’s a rare commodity to fit into that position. So we have our technical persons who are at a certain standard. So the person who will be heading the sports sector, he must be much better than them. So there are very limited people, not only in India but across the world.

“Therefore, we are facing some problems in spite of repeated processes being done. We are not getting the right candidate. So, because of the shortage and acute shortage, I should say, we are not getting the person. But the process is on to find the right candidate.”

Tracing the timeline of recruitment failures since Patel’s exit, Laxman revealed that multiple global specialists pulled out due to personal reasons and unwillingness to commit to a full-time, on-site role in Bengaluru.

“Unfortunately, after Nitin left as the head of sports science, we didn’t get anyone who can fill in that shoes or position. We had Andrew Leipus (who previously worked as Indian team physio and is now with IPL team Punjab Kings). In fact, everything was agreed upon. Devajit had with him two or three meetings and everything was agreed upon.

“Suddenly Andrew at the last moment citing family reasons backed off. Then we conducted a full fledged interview process where we had Dr. Dinshaw (Pardiwala), Dr. Ashish Soni and Dr. Rohan Khavte and myself, where we shortlisted five candidates out of which the number one, I don’t want to name him, was an Australian.

“After selecting him, suddenly he backed out saying that he cannot move to Bangalore because one of the important reason and condition is it’s a full time job. It is not a consultant or a part time one. You want that person to be here because like I’m here because it’s a day to day monitoring.

“It cannot happen as a periodic monitoring, and unfortunately, that professional also didn’t join. Then there was another professional who was the head of sports science of All Blacks. We engaged with him and he almost agreed. At the last moment, he backed out,” he explained.

Despite the vacancy at the helm, Laxman praised the existing internal team for stepping up and restructuring the department into localized operational units. “So to fill in that position, you require someone not necessarily of the stature or experience, but the knowledge and understanding of Indian cricketers.

“So because we didn’t get any head of sports science, we’ve divided and I think a lot of credit should be given to the professionals who are already in the sports science team because they have stepped up. We have got the verticals, four verticals, the rehab vertical, the performance vertical, the domestic vertical and the education vertical.

Reiterating that the BCCI will not compromise on quality merely to fill the slot, Laxman confirmed that the hunt for the right candidate remains active. “I think the lookout is there, but you have to find someone who is qualified and capable enough to take up that position. I think that that lookout is still there. So we require to definitely fill in that position and the suitable candidate has to be identified and I think that lookout is still there.”

–IANS

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