BCCI repackages Team India’s bilateral platter | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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BCCI repackages Team India’s bilateral platter

Aug 19, 2022 08:55 PM IST

An expanded IPL means fewer white-ball matches at home for India but the board has tried to balance it with a more competitive offering for the broadcaster

After bumper gains from Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights proceeds, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will next aim at value generation for bilateral cricket at home—popularly labelled as Team India matches—by offering a more competitive spread in the fresh Future Tours Program (FTP) cycle.

On the face of it, India will play 13 fewer internationals at home from the 85 matches in the 2019-23 FTP cycle(AP) PREMIUM
On the face of it, India will play 13 fewer internationals at home from the 85 matches in the 2019-23 FTP cycle(AP)

These media rights will hit the market next year when Disney Star’s current contract ends.

For all of IPL’s attractiveness, a key to its commercial appeal lies in its clear window, a luxury only global International Cricket Council (ICC) events enjoy and one that the BCCI has secured even for an expanded IPL. In framing India’s 2023-27 FTP, the BCCI has tried to circumvent the challenge of mushrooming rival T20 leagues while holding on to its policy of restraining its players from participating in them. Also, aiming for a full-strength opposition each time Team India takes the field has become near impossible in the current congested calendar.

On the face of it, India will play 13 fewer internationals at home from the 85 matches in the 2019-23 FTP cycle. However, the volume of playing days remains similar: 152 from 153 in the previous cycle. In fact, in terms of the combined number of playing days (293) home and away, India will be the second busiest team after England.

India will play three more Tests but six and 10 fewer ODIs and T20Is respectively compared to the previous home cycle. That may appear to be a self-goal but a deeper look points to an effort to let go of the excess from the schedule for better packaging for the broadcasters.

Quality opposition

Of the 20 Test matches that India will play at home in the coming years, 15 are expected to be keenly contested. There are a couple of five-Test series against Australia and England, a three-Test series against World Test Championship (WTC) winners New Zealand and two Tests against South Africa. In keeping with the WTC requirements, India will play West Indies and Bangladesh but those exchanges will be limited to two Tests each. A one-off Test against Afghanistan is also on the menu; such a move serves the purpose at the ICC boardroom. Ireland’s wait to play their first Test against India though has been prolonged.

One flip side of aiming for quality opposition for commercial benefits is a tougher pathway to the WTC final. But considering the WTC title is more about prestige than anything else, the arrangement could be accepted as a reasonable bargain.

Fewer white-ball ties

A reduced sprinkling of 21 ODIs is not a surprise. The BCCI had the option to further trim the 50-overs format but for the presence of two ICC ODI world events: 2025 Champions Trophy and 2027 World Cup. All the seven ODI series will be three-match affairs, a trend evident from the last cycle itself where India competed in nine three-match ODI series.

What is a touch unexpected is the drop in the number of T20Is (31, 10 fewer to the previous cycle). A lot of it though is a direct consequence of the additional window for the expanded IPL, for which a quarter of the year is booked. India also play as many as 30 away T20Is, making them the second busiest bilateral T20I-playing nation after West Indies (73 matches).

Efforts towards a more solid packaging are visible here too, with as many as five home five-match T20I series against Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies scheduled; all of these are competitive T20 opponents. There are only two three-match series against relatively-weaker sides in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“We were quite clear that the ODI Super League had to go. Only after that did we get the liberty to offer a more robust bilateral schedule to our broadcasters,” a BCCI official said. “If we had to play home and away against everyone, one would have continued seeing a number of lopsided series.”

The only other boards able to deliver a focused FTP are England and Australia. Both are happy to play plenty of Test cricket (43 and 40 Tests respectively). Powered by their marquee Ashes rivalry, Test cricket continues to command a premium there even as South Africa have sharply slashed their Test calendar.

In contrast, cricket boards of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka seem to be on an overdose of ODI cricket, playing 59 and 52 matches respectively. While Bangladesh players are not in demand in the T20 league circuit, the Sri Lankans are. Player availability could therefore become a recurring problem for the neighbouring board.

Packed Jan-Feb window

Despite its enviable clout in the ICC, the biggest hurdle for the BCCI in their bilateral scheduling is the packed January-February window. Four T20 leagues—Australia’s Big Bash League, upcoming leagues of South Africa and UAE and the Bangladesh Premier League—attract sizable T20 talent by offering competitive salaries, and many international teams could be weakened during this phase.

To offset this, in two of the four years of the new cycle, India will play lengthy Test series—against England at home in 2024 and against Australia away in 2025—during this phase. They then invite England at home for eight white-ball matches to prepare for the Champions Trophy in February. Similarly, India will have eight white-ball matches at home against New Zealand in early 2026 in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in February.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Rasesh Mandani loves a straight drive. He has been covering cricket, the governance and business side of sport for close to two decades. He writes and video blogs for HT.

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