The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has put an emphasis on enhancing their bench strength with frequent India A tours. The move comes after the Indian test team faced a disappointing 3-0 whitewash defeat against New Zealand.
The series saw the Rohit Sharma-led side getting exposed to good quality spin bowling, with the opposition utilizing the rank turners in Pune and Mumbai. The loss put the Indian batting line-up into utter shame, as they failed to be proficient on spin-friendly tracks, the same surfaces they have been playing on since their start of their careers.
In this regard, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman is keen to create a player resource pool, who would be trained well to adapt to different surfaces. BCCI and Laxman are working together to organize more India A tours to offer exposure to the young cricketers.
“Other boards have communicated to the BCCI that they can’t bear the expenses of an ‘A’ tour. The BCCI has still tried to organize a couple of shadow ‘A’ tours like the one which precedes India’s Test tour of Australia. Laxman is working on it to come up with a plan that will offer greater exposure to the next generation of cricketers,” a source said.
The prime example was witnessed earlier this month, when India A played a two-match unofficial test series against Australia A. Although, the side lost both games, the players gained significant experience of playing on surfaces, offering pace and bounce.
The source revealed that the other boards aren’t interested enough as the A series doesn’t generate enough revenue, In this aspect, BCCI is working on making these tours affordable.
Earlier this year, England Lions team toured India for a three-match first-class series, preceding the England senior team’s tour to India. The India A team managed to win the series 2-0.
India suffers a major blow with KL Rahul and Shubman Gilli’s injury ahead of BGT 2024/25
Indian opening contenders KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have suffered injuries during intra-squad game against India A in Perth. Rahul left the field during the first day of the game after being hit on the elbow. Meanwhile, Gill copped a blow on his left thumb, putting his participation in the opening test against Australia in jeopardy.
Captain Rohit Sharma has also opted to skip the Perth test to spend time with his new-born son and is expected to return ahead of the Adelaide test.
With these developments, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhimanyu Easwaran could make their test debut and partner up with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first test from November 22.
