How BCCI’s scheduling mess puts India’s WTC hopes at risk

MUMBAI, Sep 3: If India’s World Test Championship campaign goes off track, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to answer for more than the team’s performances. The board has created a calendar so congested that India’s Test preparations are being squeezed from every direction. Red-ball fixtures are clashing, international commitments are overlapping with domestic cricket, and players are being forced to juggle multiple assignments when the Test team needs focused preparation. This is not bad luck. It is bad scheduling. With India currently fifth in the WTC standings, there is little room for error. Yet the BCCI’s own fixture list threatens to undermine the team’s preparations. Nearly 60 players have reportedly been included on India’s New Zealand visa list, highlighting the extraordinary number of overlapping commitments.

A calendar working against the Test team

India captain Shubman Gill has reportedly asked selectors to make the two four-day matches against Australia A in Puducherry useful preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With India’s batters having struggled against spin, Gill is understood to favour pitches offering some turn. The idea is simple: expose the batters to difficult conditions before the Test series. But the BCCI has made even that difficult. The second Australia A match runs from September 29 to October 2, while the Irani Cup begins on October 1 and ends on October 5. Prioritising Australia A could weaken the Rest of India side, while sending the leading Test players to the Irani Cup would undermine the purpose of the Australia A fixture. How such a clash was allowed to happen is a legitimate question for the BCCI. The Asian Games and India’s three-match ODI series against the West Indies add further pressure, forcing selectors to manage multiple squads simultaneously.

New Zealand schedule raises bigger questions

The problem becomes even more glaring on the New Zealand tour. India are scheduled to play five T20Is from October 22, while India A’s three four-day matches begin on October 24. A five-match ODI series will overlap with those fixtures, with the first Test beginning just four days after the final ODI. That leaves virtually no breathing space for red-ball preparation. Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir have reportedly sought 10 to 14 days of quality preparation before major Test assignments. That should hardly be an unreasonable demand for a team chasing a place in the WTC final. Yet the BCCI’s calendar appears to treat preparation as an afterthought. One possible solution is to release key Test players from ODI duty after the third New Zealand match. But why should the Test team have to be rescued from a schedule created by the board itself?

BCCI must take responsibility

India’s WTC hopes are too important for such avoidable confusion. The BCCI has money, resources, a vast talent pool and control over the domestic calendar. If it cannot create enough space for its Test team to prepare properly, questions must be asked about its priorities. India need preparation, clarity and continuity. Instead, they are being handed a fixture list that looks increasingly like a logistical crisis. If India miss the WTC final, the BCCI’s calendar cannot be allowed to escape scrutiny. (Agencies)