Raman, Sekhar and Hirwani to work at NCA

Former India allrounder WV Raman has been named the batting coach of the National Cricket Academy. The NCA governing board has also appointed TA Sekhar and Narendra Hirwani as the fast bowling and spin bowling coaches respectively.

NCA chairman Niranjan Shah told ESPNcricinfo their roles were "full time" and all three men would be stationed in Bangalore, where the NCA is currently located.

It is also learnt that academies will be established in each of the five zones, and about 30 coaches will be appointed in January to look after under-16 and under-19 cricketers. "They will also work as Talent and Resources Development Wing (TRDW) officers," Shah said. "Since the selectors can't see every player, these coaches can identify talented players and report to the selectors."

The TRDW was set up by former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya in 2001 and was headed by Dilip Vengsakarkar, who is the current director of the NCA. Players like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla and RP Singh had been identified in this way.

An NCA official indicated these five academies will be located in Dharamsala, Ranchi, Nagpur, Vadodara and Wayanad, but Shah said the venues haven't yet been confirmed.

Raman, who has been working on commentary assignments for the BCCI, and Sekhar, who is director at Delhi Daredevils may face some issues regarding conflict of interest. Shah said Raman and Sekar couldn't continue those roles in accordance with the board's conflict of interest guidelines. Hirwani had already been in the midst of such an issue, and had voluntarily resigned from his post as Madhya Pradesh selector given his son Mihir represented MP.

The BCCI have been trying to reinvigorate the National Cricket Academy and though it has been run out of Bangalore so far, BCCI joint secretary and NCA convener Amitabh Chaudhary said they will look into finding a permanent centre in a month's time.