BCCI likely to hold camp for team India players in Ahmedabad before Australia tour

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is thinking to hold a camp for the contracted players at the renewed Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad ahead of the Australia tour. Team India players haven’t taken the field since the New Zealand tour and with the current situation in India worsening with every passing days, it seems unlikely that cricket will resume in the country.

According to the released schedule, India is scheduled to tour Australia in October for the three T20Is, four Tests and three One-Day Internationals. The T20I series is set to start on October 11 even as the schedule has been framing keeping in mind the T20 World Cup later in the same month. But the mega event is most likely to be postponed due to the pandemic and the tour schedule might also be tweaked later.

As for the camp, it will help the players return to their groove as they haven’t played the game for almost four months. Indian Express reported that the facilities at the world’s largest Motera has tilted the scales in its favour for the camp. The stadium has the best facilities in terms of accommodation and rather the players can be quarantined as well if needed.

No domestic cricket till December

The decisions were taken at the Apex Council meeting took place on Friday with the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah informing the stakeholders about the resumption of cricket in the country. While the board is giving preference to the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is likely to be held in the UAE, Ganguly cleared in the meeting that domestic cricket won’t be starting in India until December at least.

Moreover, there will be no international games at home this season as well. It was also told in the meeting that the tournaments like Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Challengers series will be scrapped and the age-group competitions will take a major hit this time. With as many as 38 teams taking part in the domestic cricket, the players’ mobility has become a big factor and the BCCI isn’t willing to take any hasty decision.