BCCI likely to shift base to Bengaluru

New Delhi: The BCCI may shift its headquarters from Mumbai to Bengaluru once the National Cricket Academy takes shape in the next couple of years. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has got its own land – 40 acres – on the outskirts of Bengaluru where a state-of-the-art National Cricket Academy (NCA) will be built.

However, many in the top brass feel that it is an ideal scenario to shift the headquarters from its rented premises at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai as the new facility will also have a five-star lodging facility.

It is also learnt that the Committee of Administrators (CoA) is open to the idea as it will reduce hotel costs, borne by the Board whenever a meeting is held in a five-star facility in New Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru.

Acting president C K Khanna has written a letter to all Board members seeking their suggestions so that the issue can be brought up at the governing body meeting. “People are of the strong view that present administrative premises of the Board do not have adequate and appropriate office infrastructure nor there is any further scope of expansion,” Khanna wrote in his letter.

“I strongly suggest that since BCCI has acquired 40 acres at Bengaluru close to the airport for its most ambitious project, this whole land can be used optimally along with NCA,” he further added. BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary travels around 25 days a month and the bills of five-star accommodation have run into crores.