BCCI Sports Science head Nitin Patel set to part ways

The new Centre of Excellence of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may face a setback as the head of its Sports Science wing, Nitin Patel, has opted to part ways. He has played an important role in overseeing injury and workload management and rehabilitating both international and domestic cricketers. Patel will be leaving the newly-created facility in Bengaluru shortly.

Patel has served as the physio of the Mumbai Indians as well as the Indian team in the past. He is currently serving his notice period and could leave the Bengaluru centre - formerly the National Cricket Academy (NCA) - by the end of this month. It is understood that the BCCI will put out an advertisement to find Patel's successor.

Patel, who has been working closely with VVS Laxman, the head of the Centre of Excellence, had some critical responsibilities, especially workload management and the rehabilitation of international cricketers. Since joining the NCA/Centre of Excellence in April 2022, he has personally overseen the recovery and management of vital international players.

Having spent three years at the centre, Patel supervised several international players, including Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul, among others. Until recently, he was monitoring the rehabilitation of Mohammed Shami, who came back from a major injury and fared commendably at the Champions Trophy 2025.

At present, he is looking after the rehab of Bumrah, who has been away from competitive cricket since January due to a back injury. The veteran bowler will miss the first few games for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Patel was the first one appointed by the BCCI to head the newly-formed Sports Science wing. With players sustaining injuries every now and then, the BCCI created the centre, which is also being called a high-performance centre. It was a dream project of former BCCI secretary and current ICC President Jay Shah and Patel was an important member in the facility, which was inaugurated last September. The latter is quite popular among the Indian players as a lot of them are fond of how he operates.

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The Indian team won the 2025 Champions Trophy earlier this month in Dubai. The players are now preparing for IPL 2025, which gets underway on Saturday, March 22. India's next assignment is a five-match Test series against England, which will kick-start their campaign in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle.