BCCI open to the idea of fielding two Indian teams at the same time
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have come up with the idea of fielding two Indian Cricket teams at the same time to make up for the lost time due to COVID-19.
One of the BCCI official had this to say to Sportstar, “None of us know when sport, especially international cricket will resume. But if we have to safeguard all our stakeholders – from sponsors to spectators – one of the options is to select two different squads and play a Test series and a T20I series simultaneously.”
If this goes through, India will be the second team after Australia to consider the idea. If the BCCI is forced to squeeze in too many games in a limited window to take care of the broadcaster’s interest, it will have to field two different squads. The fans can thus enjoy a Test match during the day followed by a T20 international under floodlights.
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Last month, Aaron Finch said that he was open to the idea of having two Australian teams playing at the same time. It has been done once before in 2017, when a day after hosting Sri Lanka in a T20I at the Adelaide Oval (Feb 22), Australia started a 4 Test series in India with the opening fixture in Pune (from Feb 23). Australia went on to win both games.
Finch said, “It is definitely an option that can be looked at. The downside to that though is that multi-format players won’t be able to play in both. But that also has the ability to create opportunities for those that wouldn’t necessarily get that opportunity in the first place.”
Earlier that month, Eoin Morgan, England’s limited overs skipper also said that he was open to this idea. The 2019 World Cup winning captain said, “I see every option being viable during this extraordinary time. Certainly, I’ve never experienced anything like it and I don’t think anyone else has. I think the serious nature of the situation economically and financially for the game is something that we have never come across.”