The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is ramping up efforts to build the country’s fast-bowling pipeline. The board on Sunday shared a video of 22 ‘Targeted’ and under-19 pacers training at the Centre of Excellence (CoE, previously known as the National Cricket Academy, NCA) in Bengaluru, where they took part in fitness drills, ‘skill enhancement’, and tactical acumen ‘building’ under fast-bowling coach Troy Cooley. India’s pace arsenal has built up steadily over the last few decades, peaking, at least for the Test side, under the coaching of Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun, with contributions from then captain Virat Kohli. It became an issue again recently during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England, where injuries to Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh forced the team to call up Anshul Kamboj from home, and the Haryana quick struggled on debut. “At the BCCI Centre of Excellence, fourteen Targeted and eight Under-19 fast bowlers took part in the Fast Bowling Development program which has been a key initiative in the last few years ?” the board said in a social media statement. “In addition to the players going through fitness evaluations, they also worked on skill enhancement and tactical acumen building under the Tutelage of Mr. Troy Cooley the Fast Bowling Coach at BCCI CoE, ensuring comprehensive preparation for the season ahead ?” Apart from the likes of Tushar Deshpande and Simarjeet Singh who were seen in the video, senior India ODI batter Shreyas Iyer was also present. The BCCI also offers special contracts to certain fast bowlers to regulate and help their development. However, questions still continue, especially regarding the fitness management of these prospects, with the likes of Mayank Yadav and Umran Malik sidelined for months due to serious injuries. India Under-19 to tour Australia next month Meanwhile, we’ll see some of these pacers in action when India under-19 tour Australia in September, they’ll play three One-Dayers and two multi-day matches between September 21 and October 7. India U19 squad: Ayush Mhatre (C), Vihaan Malhotra (VC), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vedant Trivedi, Rahul Kumar, Abhigyan Kundu (WK), Harvansh Singh (WK), R S Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Naman Pushpak, Henil Patel, D Deepesh, Kishan Kumar, Anmoljeet Singh, Khilan Patel, Udhav Mohan, Aman Chauhan. Standby players: Yudhajit Guha, Laxman, B.K. Kishore, Alankrith Rapole, and Arnav Bugga