BCCI Forms Four-member Committee to Enhance Domestic Cricket

The BCCI Apex Council has formed a four member committee to look into the areas of improvement in India’s domestic cricket set-up. The committee, comprising the Indian cricket team’s head coach Rahul Dravid, National Cricket Academy director VVS Laxman, the Indian team’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar, and general manager Abey Kuruvilla, will suggest improvements to the Apex Council.

The move comes after Indian speedster Shardul Thakur voiced his opinions on a cramped domestic schedule. Thakur opined that less spacing between two Ranji Trophy matches is one of the reasons for players’ injuries as the workload becomes more along with less recovery time.

The Indian fast bowler said playing matches with a three-day gap is extremely tough for players. "The knockouts had five days in between. Now we have seen that all matches are played with three days' gap, so it is extremely tough for the domestic players. To expect them to play 10 games in a row with just three days' gap if the team reaches the final. I think next year they will have to have a relook at it and give more breaks. The schedule is becoming tighter and tighter. If the boys keep playing like this for two more seasons there will be a lot of injuries across the country," Thakur opined.

The cramped Indian cricket’s domestic season started off with the Duleep Trophy, followed by the Deodhar Trophy, both played between June and August. The monsoon break acted as a reprieve for the players to get ready for the Irani Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Vijay Hazare Trophy, which were played across the country from October to December.

Players then spent the next ten weeks playing the Ranji Trophy, which concluded earlier this month.

Indian team’s head coach, Rahul Dravid, seconded Thakur’s opinion and said there was a need to hear the players and look into the schedule and the number of domestic tournaments being played.

"I saw some of the comments Shardul made. And in fact, some of the boys who've come into the team as well, also comment about how tough the domestic schedule is, especially in a country like India with the amount of travel involved. So, we need to hear the players. That's a very important thing in a lot of these things. You need to hear your players, because they are the ones going through the grind and putting their bodies on the line, and if there are enough voices saying that, then yeah, I think there's some need to look at it, and see how we can manage our schedules,” Dravid said, at the conclusion of the India vs. England Test series.

With reports also suggesting that there could be an overhaul of the Ranji Trophy schedule, the four-member committee’s inputs would also go a long way in enhancing domestic cricket in India.