Additional tour match for India on Australia tour Being Propositioned

In the first sign that perhaps some lessons are being learnt after all, it is understood that the BCCI is trying to convince Cricket Australia to add an additional tour match. However, is that alone enough?

India Australia series

Following India’s 4-0 whitewash in the Test series against England, one of the loudest criticisms going against the Indian cricket team was that they had not come prepared to take on England in English conditions. India played the better part of two months in India in the course of the IPL 4 season and thereafter, some of the Indian cricketers that made the England team were part of the Indian tour of the West Indies where conditions were far removed from England.

However, India went into the series, perhaps a touch over confident as was the BCCI, that since they held onto the no.1 Test team title for twenty months, the Indian cricket team could immediately switch on the Test mode and take on England all the while England have been fine tuning their efforts to give the Indian cricket team a shock treatment by way of welcome. With one tour match where the Indian cricket team could not gear themselves intensity wise for it ahead of the Test series, there were already signs that India had perhaps underestimated the amount of hard work that would have been required ahead of this series.

Now with the criticism becoming almost unanimous that the Indian cricket team should have had more time to acclimatize in England and that they should have played a couple of tour matches – not just a two day tour match in between the Test series – before getting down to the business of the Test contest, the BCCI is copping the flak over the scheduling of the Indian cricket team and of being greedy in regard to the IPL.

In damage control mode now, the BCCI is now in communication with Cricket Australia to ensure that India do get a couple of tour matches before the India Australia series for the Border Gavaskar Trophy gets underway. Although not part of the original itinerary, the BCCI now wants to make sure that the Indian cricket team avoid the degrading results that they have been at the receiving end of a team that was supremely fit and ready for such a mega battle for the top prize.

The only problem now is that like the BCCI, Cricket Australia has also moved towards a serious purpose of Twenty20 in the form of the Big Bash and therefore, facing a packed itinerary at the time when India will tour Australia. If an additional tour match has to be accommodated, Cricket Australia is going to have to make domestic cricket adjustments as well at this late hour, which is interesting if it will concede given that the BCCI has been able to influence Cricket Australia to switch to a Test series in India last year after India needed to play more Tests in order to garner points to stay no.1.