Regretting the lack of attention to juvenile coaches, former India batsman VVS Laxman said that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has urged the BCCI to shift its focus from infrastructure to developing a quality pool of coaches.

while addressing the inaugural session of the CII — Sports Summit 2017 in suburban Andheri in Mumbai, Laxman said, “We never ever gave importance to Desh Prem Azad, who identified and nurtured Kapil Dev till he played for Haryana. After that, once you play at the highest level or you play first-class cricket, you become mature.”

Emphasizing on the fact that coaches are more important in a player’s career than infrastructure, Laxman said, “I believe that more than infrastructure, a lot of importance should be given to developing quality coaches and that is something, which we have recommended to the BCCI also. I was very fortunate that I had wonderful coaches in the academy where I went to.”

Explaining the importance of coaches, the stylish batsman said, “All the players who you talk to, who have achieved excellence they will tell that there was a mentor or a coach, who was like an elder brother or a father. Sachin was not because of Shivaji Park (a ground in Dadar), Sachin was because of Achrekar Sir. I think the important message here is to invest money in developing those quality coaches.”