New Delhi, Dec 20 Troy Cooley’s tenure as fast bowling coach at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) has come to an end. The decorated Australian coach came on board in late 2021 with an aim to build and nurture India’s next set of fast bowlers.
His tenure saw him working closely with the pacers and in coordination with VVS Laxman, the head of cricket at CoE, previously known as National Cricket Academy (NCA). Cooley was the bowling coach of the Indian women's team in the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February 2023 and worked in the same role with the India men's A team on their tour of England earlier this year.
Sources have told IANS that Cooley, 60, will leave the CoE facility on Saturday. As of now, there is no official word yet on who will step in to fill in the void left by his departure. Cooley’s departure also means yet another vacancy in the CoE’s coaching structure has been created.
Last month, Rajib Datta’s tenure as the bowling coach and lead faculty at CoE came to an end. In August this year, the BCCI put out advertisements for resident faculty in batting and bowling. Moreover, CoE’s sports science and medicine head position is yet to be filled.
Ever since former head Nitin Patel moved on, an advertisement was put out inviting prospective applicants in August. But IANS understands that there’s no word yet on who would fill in the vacancy of this critical post.
Last month, the BCCI invited applications for the role of Head – Cricket Education at the CoE, after Sujith Somasunder left the position to become the vice-president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). The deadline for sending applications was December 8, and it remains to be seen in how much time the position can be filled.
With players’ all-format workload requiring sustained care and monitoring across both men’s and women’s set-ups, Indian cricket cannot afford further delay in filling its critical roles at CoE.
IANS also understands that Munish Bali has moved out of the CoE to be attached full-time with the India women’s team, in the same capacity that batting coach Sitanshu Kotak currently serves with the men’s side.
Bali, who was a member of the coaching staff when the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side won the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup at home, was previously contracted to the CoE and deputed to be with the women’s team before making a recent full-time shift to the national side.
It is also understood that AI Harrsha will continue as the India women’s team strength and conditioning coach for the upcoming five-game T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
The arrival of Nathan Kiely, who was believed to join the Indian women’s team as their S&C coach, is pending. The Australia-based Kiely had stepped down from his role as Bangladesh men’s S&C coach in October citing personal reasons, and there’s a hope that he could join the team during their all-format tour of Australia set to happen from February 15 to March 6 next year.
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