Coronavirus has forced to stop the daily busy life of the world, including the many sports events. While the pandemic is forcing to face the huge loss in cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking for the recovery options. According to the recent media reports, the BCCI is also thinking to set up two different Indian teams who will play two different series simultaneously – one in the Test format and one in the T20I format.
When India were playing the three-match home ODI series against South Africa in last March, the coronavirus pandemic forced to postpone that series after the first ODI washout in rain. The IPL 2020 has already been postponed and many of India’s upcoming international cricket series are in the serious threat to face the same fate.
As the BCCI has no insurance to protect their loss due to this pandemic, they are in danger to face massive loss. While the fate of the IPL 2020 is totally doubtful, the BCCI can face around INR 3800 crore loss in the case of cancellation of this tournament.
In their thinking process to recover from these losses, the BCCI is reportedly also focusing on the options of fielding two different Indian teams for the two different series at the same time. The BCCI is looking to run one Test series and one T20I series simultaneously in this period. Though it will be a challenge for logistic management, the BCCI is looking for this challenge.
A BCCI official told Sportstar, “None of us know when sport, especially international cricket will resume. But if we have to safeguard all our stakeholders – from sponsors to spectators – one of the options is to select two different squads and play a Test series and a T20I series simultaneously.”
Two different Indian teams played simultaneously in September 1998
In international cricket history, it is very rare to see fielding two different sides of a team which play two different cricket matches simultaneously.
In September 1998, two different Indian teams participated in the two different cricket events. Mohammad Azharuddin-led India played the five-match ODI series against Pakistan in Canada between 12th and 20th September 1998, while Ajay Jadeja-led India participated in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from 9th to 19th September 1998.
In fact, both those Indian teams played on 12th September 1998. However, the matches of the 1998 Commonwealth Games had only List A status, but not the ODI status.