CHENNAI: As speculation rises over India’s cricket calendar after the pandemic, the BCCI maintains that it has made no commitment to anybody, nor has it lined up any overseas tour. It is working on a set of standard operative procedures (SOP) and is in no hurry to restart activities. At the moment, there is no chance of even net practice anywhere in the country barring a few districts of Andhra Pradesh.
With all the cricket boards set to suffer losses, several of them want bilateral series or short tri-nation events featuring big teams like India, Australia and England. The Indian team is in demand because of the revenue a tour by Virat Kohli’s team ensures for the host nation. The BCCI is willing to pay heed to some of these requests, but not before getting clarity on travel and visa regulations in the post-COVID world.
“The BCCI understands the situation and would like to help out other boards,” said treasurer Arun Dhumal. “But this has to be seen in light of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) and ICC events that are already planned. In between, if we can accommodate others, we will give it a thought. At the moment, there is no clarity even about the T20 World Cup. So what can we say about requests from other countries? It will all depend on the situation.”
Before the T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia in October-November, the Indian team was to tour Sri Lanka in July. The board of the island nation wants to make it a T20 tri-series, with Bangladesh as the third team. The South African board has also requested the BCCI to send the team over for a T20 series in August. The BCCI is still to take a call on these.
“The Sri Lanka series is part of the FTP. And the South African board approached us some time back, before the outbreak. We told them we would look into it. It’s not possible to say yes or no right now. We still don’t know what the travel situation will be and what kind of visa restrictions will be in place,” said Dhumal.
The official didn’t sound too hopeful about a short series though. “It was linked to India’s tour of Zimbabwe. Now, we aren’t sure of the Zimbabwe series. We also have to see what the situation at the time is. If players have to be quarantined for 15 days after going somewhere and for as many days after coming back, then a short series may not be a good idea,” he said.
According to Dhumal, the BCCI is more concerned about safe return of cricket than exploring possibilities of where the team can play. “First and foremost, we have to be 100 per cent sure that our players are safe and healthy. Then only will we let cricket resume. Nothing will compromise the safety of players.”