Kamal Ghorui
India’s T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year has done little to mask a growing problem in the longest format. The side’s Test performances have dipped noticeably, and despite improved results in limited-overs cricket under head coach Gautam Gambhir, the red-ball setup remains a concern. Losses at home to New Zealand and South Africa have underlined that India are no longer invincible in their own conditions, with their World Test Championship final hopes now looking increasingly unlikely. Recognising the issue, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has moved to reset its long-term Test structure. According to PTI, the Centre of Excellence, headed by VVS Laxman, has rolled out a detailed plan to rebuild India’s red-ball depth by focusing on the next generation. Central to this strategy is a four-day intra-CoE competition scheduled across June and July. Talents such as Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are set to feature in the tournament, which will include 64 players aged below 25. These players will be split into four teams of 16, with each side playing two multi-day fixtures on varied surfaces to simulate different match scenarios. The idea is to build a consistent pipeline of red-ball players who can serve India over the next decade. As part of this shift, coaches and selectors have been instructed to make red-ball development the priority at High Performance Camps in Bengaluru over the coming year. “The India Emerging side will comprise of only U-25 players and they will also constitute India A teams for shadow tours also. The roadmap will be created keeping senior chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir in the loop,” a BCCI source told PTI. “Once the IPL ends, India U-19 and Emerging (U-25) will both tour Sri Lanka for four-day games. The squad will be selected based on Intra-COE tournament performances,” the source added. India’s difficulties in Tests, especially their declining effectiveness against spin even at home, have been a key trigger for this overhaul since Gambhir took charge. The new system is designed to address those gaps through sustained exposure to longer-format cricket. For selection, 25 U-23 players will be chosen by the junior panel led by S Sharath. Another 25 players, spanning U-23 and U-25 categories, will be picked by the senior selection committee based on performances in domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with the condition that these players must not have been part of the IPL. The remaining 14 spots will go to players who featured in the IPL, including Mhatre, Sooryavanshi and Sameer Rizvi, completing the 64-player pool. “The idea is to select 25 after the intra-COE tourney, and this core group of cricketers will represent both Emerging and India A in shadow tours. The BCCI brass and Team India management is pretty clear — even for U-19s, the focus for next one year has to be red ball,” the source said.
