India to play shorter formats before Test series in overseas tours

Having learnt a harsh lesson from the South Africa tour, India will from now on play the shorter formats first overseas to help acclimatise with the conditions before a Test series, the BCCI said on Saturday.

BCCI's decision came after an under-prepared India lost 1-2 against South Africa in an away Test series recently.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said the issue has now been addressed and when the team travels to England and Australia later this year, it would get used to the conditions by playing the shorter formats first.

"Based on the feedback that we have got from the team management we had some serious discussions. What we are not doing is that in the summer India is going to England (and) before the first Test match actually starts, India would be in England  for over a month and the team would get acclimatised to the conditions. India will play the shorter format first and then come to Test matches," he said.

“In the next winter, India will be in Australia and again what we have agreed with the Cricket Australia is that the Indian team will first play the shorter formats and then play the Test matches. So the team would get time to get used to the conditions before they go into serious Test cricket,” he added.

He also revealed that the programme of the Indian team for the next five years would be known in advance.

“There is a four-year FTP (Future Tours Programme) cycle that we follow and these changes we have managed to do in the current cycle. But the BCCI has now negotiated that the FTP cycle of Indian team from 2019-2023, and every tour, this issue (lack of preparation time) will be addressed," Johri said.

"For the first time you will have day wise and date wise calendar of the Indian team's programme five years in advance. So you will exactly know over the next five years where you will be,” the BCCI CEO signed off.

IMAGE: India players react

Photograph: BCCI