The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday held a meeting at its headquarters in Mumbai to review the team’s performance in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, where Rohit Sharma’s men conceded the trophy for the first time in a decade after suffering a 3-1 defeat to the hosts in the five-Test rubber.
The series loss against Australia also ended India’s hopes of reaching the ICC World Test Championships final, scheduled at the Lord’s in June, this year.
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While the exact details of the meeting are yet to be revealed, sources informed that the discussions revolved around India’s top order batting failures throughout the tour, and the prolonged lean patch endured by the seasoned duo of Rohit and Virat Kohli in the longest format.
Rohit along with chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir were part of the meeting with top officials of the BCCI-president Roger Binny, joint secretary Devajit Saikia (currently discharging the functions of secretary) and vice president Rajiv Shukla. Agarkar was present in Australia for the entire duration of the BGT as the touring selector.
It has been learnt that there were discussions on whether to initiate the process of transition from next month’s Champions Trophy or wait for the cycle to end with the eight-team marquee ICC event, making a return for the first time in eight years.
In all likelihood, the selectors could approach the Champions Trophy with the tested combination, given that the team has played only three ODIs in the last year, and six in total since the 2023 World Cup final. As such the sample size is too less to access the players, and the upcoming series against England in the lead-up to the ICC tournament could provide a clearer picture of where the team stands.
BCCI SCM on Sunday
The board’s Special General Meeting (SGM) is scheduled in Mumbai on Sunday at 12pm, where Saikia will assume charge as the new secretary while Prabhtej Singh Bhatia will be unveiled as the new treasurer. Saikia has been working as the BCCI interim secretary since Jay Shah took over as the ICC chairman on December 1.
The BCCI constitution stipulates that any post lying vacant should be filled within 45 days by calling a SGM, and Sunday’s meeting is well within that period, on the 43rd day. Bhatia filed the nomination for the treasurer’s post after incumbent Ashish Shelar took oath as a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government recently.
Meanwhile, Shah is expected to attend the SGM as a ‘special invitee’, and is likely to be felicitated by the state units alongside the SGM.
Delay in announcing Champions Trophy squad
Doing away with the customary drill of naming a provisional squad, a month ahead of any major ICC tournament, the BCCI is likely to seek an extension citing recent commitments in Australia for the Test series.
While the BCCI was expected to announce the squad for the marque tournament by January 12, adhering to the International Cricket Council’s request to submit squads five weeks before the start of the tournament, the Indian board could pick the team about a week later, around January 18-19. The Champions Trophy starts in Pakistan-UAE on February 19.
The squads for the limited-overs series against England, could however, be announced in a couple of days. During the series, India and England will engage in five T20Is followed by three ODIs. It is likely that the provisional Champions Trophy squad will predominantly feature players from the three home ODIs against England.
Meanwhile, the T20 squad could be on expected lines, with Suryakumar Yadav leading the outfit, and will mostly feature players that played recently against Bangladesh and South Africa, with no chance of Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Siraj being included. In their absence, Arshdeep Singh will lead India’s pace attack, with a major possibility of the left-arm quick also finding a place in the ODI squad and the Champions Trophy team as well.
