BCCI says the next tour calendar will be built around rest and acclimatisation
Secretary Devajit Saikia says the board has instructed its Future Tour Programme representatives to build in rest and warm-up matches before major series in SENA countries. India play 37 internationals before the next IPL.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has told its Future Tour Programme representatives to build the next cycle around player rest, acclimatisation and warm-up matches before major series, secretary Devajit Saikia said after a review meeting at the board's headquarters.
The context is a run of injuries the board links directly to the volume of cricket. Saikia said three or four players from a 15-member ODI squad were injured in England, after two months of the IPL.
What the board has instructed
Saikia set out the instruction in terms of the calendar's construction rather than its size.
"We have instructed our FTP persons who will be meeting very soon in various international forums," he said. The programme, he added, should allow "proper rest for the players as well as some kind of acclimatisation or friendly matches", and those should come "before any major series in SENA countries".
SENA refers to South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia — the away tours where conditions differ most from Indian ones, and where the modern schedule has largely eliminated the tour matches that once preceded a Test series.
Who was in the room
The meeting brought together Saikia, Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Centre of Excellence head VVS Laxman.
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar did not attend. Saikia said the meeting had been called at short notice and Agarkar was out of town, in an area from which he could not join online despite efforts to arrange it.
The injury problem, as the board describes it
Saikia was direct about the cause. "Individual players are having injuries because they have to play a lot of matches," he said.
"If you look at their schedule, in England, three-four players of the 15-member ODI squad got injured," he said. "We have to think that they have played two months of IPL before that." He added: "All this takes a toll on the health of the players."
He said a protocol exists for how a player returns to international cricket after injury, and that the board is taking feedback from the captains and head coach to build a strategy. "To avoid those kinds of situations under the present FTP, we are trying to find some ways out," he said.
The schedule that remains
The immediate calendar does not ease. India are set to play seven Tests, 14 one-day internationals and 16 Twenty20 internationals, besides the Asian Games, before the next IPL in late March — 37 international matches in roughly six months.
That is the constraint the board has acknowledged rather than solved. Saikia framed the volume as the single difficulty: "The only challenge we are facing is that there are too many matches in the year," he said, "and that is why in the next FTP, we will do certain things." He added: "We will take certain measures."
On the board's internal working he was more positive, saying there was proper coordination across its wings — the women's committees and their technical staff and coaches, the Centre of Excellence, and the men's coaching staff. "Everybody is on the same page," he said.
On Rohit Sharma
Saikia used the briefing to close down speculation about Rohit Sharma's place in the plans for the 2027 World Cup in southern Africa.
"He is playing superbly in all matches. So what more do you want? Last match he scored 138 runs so why is there speculation?" he said, adding that he did not want to provide material for speculation.
He also said the meeting had not discussed Agarkar's future, and that the discussion had been confined to the roadmap for the 2027 World Cup.
The Asian Games accommodation question
Asked about reports that cricketers had raised complaints over being housed in container villas or on cruise ships at the Asian Games, Saikia said the board did not expect problems.
"We are not going to have any difficulties in Japan," he said, adding: "If any kind of situation arises, we'll take an appropriate call at the right time." The aim, he said, was to ensure the players and support staff get the best facilities available.
What is and is not committed
Everything described is an instruction to the board's representatives ahead of international scheduling forums, not an agreed calendar. The Future Tour Programme is negotiated between boards, and India's preferences are influential rather than decisive.
What the board has committed to is a position it will argue for: more rest between series, and warm-up matches before major away tours. Whether the next cycle carries them will be settled in those forums.
