Lessons Learnt: BCCI to send Test Cricketers Early to England

The batting failure in the Test series in South Africa has been an eye-opener for the Indian team. Though the skipper Virat Kohli is not ready to admit, but it is fact that lack of proper preparation affected the team’s performance on the field and it resulted a 1-2 series defeat. Ahead of the first Test in Cape Town, the Indian team got only seven days to acclamatise with the conditions. Furthermore, they even opted out of the only warm-up game. As a result, the batting looked like a fish out of water on that spicy Cape Town surface.

Now it seems the team management has learnt its lessons and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not willing to repeat those mistakes in the upcoming tour of England, where India will play a five-match Test series in August-September this year.

This time, the idea is to send more and more players to England early and ensure that the they are ready for the series. People like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin already have county contracts and they will be reaching England at the start of the domestic season. Others could be encouraged to take part in the India A tour of England before the Test series starts from August 1 onwards.

The Rahul Dravid-coached ‘A’ team will reach England in the first week of June and play four-day as well as limited-overs games against the England Lions (their ‘A’ side).

According to a report by the Times of India, the Indian team management and CoA chairman Vinod Rai recently mutually decided that more cricketers will be encouraged to spend time in the County Championship or play India A matches before the all-important Test series begins.

The all format cricketers like Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and others will take part in the three-match One-Day International (ODI) and T20Is series prior to the Test matches. So, they will get enough opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions.

Finally, 10 days before the start of the first Test, the entire squad will be in England. Also, before series opener in Birmingham, they are expected to play one three-day practice game against a top county side.

Meanwhile, before the tour of England, at home, India are scheduled to play the historic Test match against Afghanistan between June 14 to 18 in Bengaluru. It has been learnt the national selectors might opt for a second-string Test team for this game to allow the first-choice players to prepare for the England series.

“One thing is certain. If the Indian team had spent at least 10 days in South Africa before the first Test, it would have made a lot of difference to the end result. The team is determined that each player gets enough time and exposure in England before the actual series begins,” a top board official told has been quoted saying by the Times of India.

“The idea is to park more and more players in England and ensure that the cricketers are ready for the entire series. With England also scheduled to host the 50-over World Cup next year, this tour is very important for us,” the official further explained.

It is understood that the team management and the board will have another round of discussion, before finalizing the schedule of the players. It seems the Indian think-tank doesn’t want to keep any stone unturned to give themselves the best chance of registering a series win in England.

Last time India played a Test series in England back in 2014 and they lost it with 1-3 margin. Their last Test series win in that part of the world came in 2007, under the leadership of Rahul Dravid.

Will Kohli match that feat? Well, only time will tell.