BCCI plans to have 50 players in their roster to play Tests and white-ball cricket together

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has stated that the governing body aims to have 50 players ready to play across formats simultaneously, should the need arise in future.
 By CX Staff Writer Jun 15, 2022, 13:25 IST
Image courtesy: Twitter?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4
India had sent two entirely different contingents to Sri Lanka and England last year.

With the international calendar expanding day by day, to go with the global T20 leagues, players’ have been presented with extremely challenging demands on both physical and mental side of things.

The Indian team is currently playing South Africa in a five-match home T20I series, which began on June 9 - within less than two weeks time after the IPL 2022 final was played on May 29. Quite stunningly, Trent Boult, who featured in that title clash for the Rajasthan Royals, was playing the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s just two days later.


As for the Indian team, they have two T20Is lined up in Ireland later this month, followed by a multi-format tour of England, which features the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston, followed by three T20Is and as many ODIs. The programme also includes a four-day warm-up match against Leicestershire and two T20 practice games in Derbyshire and Northampton respectively.

The selection committee named two widely different squads for the South Africa T20Is and the lone Test, with KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer being the three common names. Rahul was ruled out of the T20I series with a groin injury, and Pant was named the captain subsequently.

With the constantly increasing amount of cricket being the norm for the future, how will international players cope up with the challenges. BCCI secretary Jay Shah talked about the solution the BCCI has on its mind for the Indian team.

“I have had discussions with NCA head VVS Laxman and we will always have 50 players in our roster,” Shah said in a conversation with the Times of India. “In future, you will have a scenario, where the Indian Test team will be playing a series in one country and the white-ball team will be engaged in a series in a different country. We are going in that direction where we will have two national teams ready at the same time.”

In 2021, India had two entirely different contingents for their international assignments in Sri Lanka and England played out simultaneously. While the senior players were a part of the Test series in England, alongside the regular coaching staff headed by Ravi Shastri, a Shikhar Dhawan led side toured Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is, with Rahul Dravid at the helm as the interim coach.

 

From around the web