What can boards do to help teams prepare better for tours?
Team India is now 0-2 down in the ongoing ODI series against Australia with 1 match to go. 3 T20Is will follow the ODI series and then the Border-Gavaskar Test Series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rohit Sharma’s absence (in the LOIs), Ishant Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli’s absence in the test series, and the lack of any long-form practice in months will surely make this a very tough tour for the Indian team. And that’s even before looking at the form Steve Smith and company find themselves in.
In many ways, this tour reminds me of India’s 2011 tour of England. Back then, opener Virender Sehwag played all IPL group stage matches and then left for shoulder surgery and therefore, ended up missing the first two test matches. With bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan out after the 1st day of the test series and Gautam Gambhir out due to a concussion, India struggled to get going in tests and then ended the tour without a win in T20Is or ODIs. Thanks to the COVID-19 situation, none of the Indian players have played any 50-over cricket (forget about test cricket) in months and it’s the reason many players like Jasprit Bumrah have looked rusty so far. On top of all that, losing the toss on flat, batting-friendly pitches certainly has helped India’s cause and I wouldn’t be surprised if India returns winless from Australia.
Even excusing India’s lack of practice due to COVID-19, the current situation could have been handled much better. The two necessary steps that BCCI and ICC need to take right away:
Setup a well-defined Future Tours Programme (FTP) Calendar
With all the various T20 leagues popping up across the world, having a defined window for international cricket, domestic cricket, as well as T20 leagues, is an obvious step. This should have happened a while ago, but it makes even more sense with the COVID-19 situation. This will help teams prepare better for tours (by scheduling say an A-tour prior to the main series), while also helping organizers and boards in planning for not just the tours but also selling TV rights and expected revenues. If done well, this could also help smaller countries who can get regular match practice against some of the bigger teams.
Clarify the importance and place of the domestic T20 leagues such as the IPL
Like Virender Sehwag in 2011, Rohit Sharma took the decision to skip some of the group stage matches for Mumbai Indians and then return to play the Final in a 70% fit (as per some reports) capacity. Whether this hampered his ability to get fit for the ODI and T20Is series in Australia (or even the Test Series) is unclear, but such situations will happen in the future, and franchise owners might put players under pressure to play. Leagues such as the IPL earn a lot of money for their boards and therefore the influence of franchise owners is only natural. In such cases, boards need to make a clear commitment to putting international cricket first and ensuring all their players understand this.
To be clear, the fault isn’t on the player. Players have relationships with their franchise (especially when they have played with them for a while) and they would obviously be tempted to push themselves to be available for them. This is where the boards can set the guidelines and provide physios who help in doing assessments so that players and teams can make better decisions.
With these 2 necessary steps, teams will be better prepared for tours and playing with their best XI and that’s just better for the boards, for the players as well as the fans.