BCCI to avoid scheduling ruckus for England tour

New Delhi: Shortly after a rigorous home season, India arrived in South Africa on 29^th December. Scheduled to play their first Test from 5^th January, team opted out of the practice match and rather focused on the net session. After the second Test and trailing 0-2, blame game started as coach lamented lack of preparation time for the tour. The players too complained about the quality of preparation which affected the team’s performance. Though India won the final encounter in Johannesburg but BCCI took notice of the complaint.

In an attempt to avoid such mistakes in the upcoming hectic tour of England, the cricket governing body is chalking out important changes as far as scheduling and preparation time for the tournament is concerned. Besides reaching England 10 days in advance, BCCI is also working on a schedule to start its team’s preparations from the first week of June itself for the series slated to start from July 3 onwards.

According to sources, after the outcome of the Test series against South Africa, the Indian team management and CoA chairman Vinod Rai sat down and mutually agreed that more India cricketers should be encouraged to spend time in the County Championship or play India-A matches before the start of the series. If the decision is implemented then Test specialists might feature in the Rahul Dravid-coached India-A team’s tour of England before the senior team begins its five-match Test series from August 1 onwards.

“One thing is certain. If the Indian team had spent at least 10 days in South Africa before the first Test, it would have made a lot of difference to the end result. The team is determined that each player gets enough time and exposure in England before the actual series begins,” a top board official told TOI on Saturday. “The idea is to park more and more players in England and ensure that the cricketers are ready for the entire series. With England also scheduled to host the 50-over World Cup next year, this tour is very important for us,” the official explained.

India tour of England starts from July 3 with the 3-match T20I series followed by the 3 ODI’s. The five match Test series begins from August 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. It is expected that the team management and BCCI will have another round of discussion before finalizing the players’ schedule for the England tour.