With Ravi Shastri urging the Board of Control for the Cricket in India (BCCI) to give the players a much-needed break from the jam-packed schedule, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) is reportedly contemplating on tweaking the schedule of the T20 series in South Africa early next year.
The players had hardly got a chance to relax since the start of the last home season when the four-match Test series in the Caribbeans was followed by as many as 13 Tests and eight ODIs and three T20Is. The mammoth home season was followed by the gruelling Indian Premier League, the Champions Trophy and the limited-overs series in West Indies.
The team recently played a full-fledged series in Sri Lanka comprising of three Test, five ODIs and one T20I and the players are now getting ready for another busy home season which will be followed by the tour of South Africa. The home series will kick start with the five-match ODI series and three-match T20I series against Australia which will be followed by another limited-overs series against New Zealand just four days after the conclusion of the series against Steve Smith & Co.
Barely a week after New Zealand’s departure, Sri Lanka will visit India for a full-fledged series before Team India flies to South Africa. Keeping this in mind, Shastri raised the point in front of the board. Although the board is not willing to bring a change on a significant scale, it is planning to tweak the T20I series schedule for the betterment of the players.
“There is hardly any scope to tweak the dates for the Tests and ODIs, but there could be a possibility to rework the T20 schedule. Basically, we are looking at providing enough gap between each format,” a BCCI source told Hindustan Times.
Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa has expressed its displeasure over BCCI’s decision to not finalize the dates for the upcoming series yet. While India is confirmed to tour South Africa, the hosts are in limbo due to the uncertainty over the schedule.
“Obviously it is frustrating, and it is a matter we need to engage,” CSA president Chris Nenzani had said earlier this month. “It is an issue that we need to put finality to because the issue of scheduling and putting schedules together comes naturally. We’ve agreed on content, and the issue is now how do we fit in that content.”
“It’s a very frustrating experience, but we’re always hopeful that we can find something workable. If you don’t have a centrally controlled Future Tours Programme‚ these issues are going to come up. But if the International Cricket Council promotes test cricket‚ you have to give everybody a fair chance and also their place in the sun,” he had added.