Rahul Dravid-coached India A will include senior team players and will tour England in June and New Zealand at the end of the year. (Source: PTI)
Rahul Dravid, coach of India’s U-19 and A teams, has decided to use the ‘A’ tours as preparation for the senior team’s international series in a road-map meeting in Bangalore. A few players from Indian national team would be part of India A squad, scheduled to tour England in June, to help the national team prepare for the big England tour slated to start in July.
There were also plans to have an A tour ahead of Australia at the end of the year but with Cricket Australia rejecting it, India A will head to New Zealand instead for preparation. The meeting featured Bharat Arun, India’s bowling coach, Sanjay Bangar, batting coach, the India-19 support staff Paras Mhambrey and Abhay Sharma, along with former player Saba Karim, the new general manager of cricket operations of the BCCI.
It was decided that the BCCI will now plan its India A tour before any overseas tours of the senior team. Apart from sending its fringe players, the ‘A’ squad will have players from the senior Indian team who will travel along with Dravid & Co.
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It’s reliably learnt that BCCI wanted an India A tour to Australia later this year, just few weeks before the senior Indian team’s series against Australia, but Cricket Australia declined the offer. “The board had no choice than to request New Zealand to have an ‘A’ series around that time. It won’t be as similar conditions like Australia but it will help Indian players to get used to the overseas conditions. So mostly India A will have two three days games followed by one dayers in New Zealand,” sources in the BCCI informed.
The road-map meeting came into prominence after India went to South Africa without a single warm-up game before the Tests. They had just three days prior to the first Test, and they decided to practice on the centre-pitch instead of a warm-up game. The decision backfired as India lost the first two Tests though they came back strongly by winning third Test in Johannesburg.
Indian captain Kohli was critical of board’s planning, and had even tried to use the Sri Lanka Test series, held prior, as preparation for the South Africa tour. The team management had asked for seaming track in the first Test so that they can prepare for South Africa. Kohli had then said, “…unfortunately we get only two days before we fly to South Africa after this series gets over. So we have no choice but try to be in a game situation and think of what’s coming ahead of us. Had we got a month off ideally, we would have done a proper preparation in a camp sort of scenario but we have to sort of make do with what we have.”
The Indian board is also planning to host Afghanistan and Nepal under 19 teams for a tri-series involving India in October. The India under 19 team is also scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka in month of July.