Team India
Often you must have seen that before the country which India’s senior team visits, India’s junior team i.e. India A team also plays red ball series there. Recently this was seen on the tour of Bangladesh where Team India played a series of 3 ODIs and two Test matches. Before that the junior team was playing series with Bangladesh A. Before that, this was also seen on the tour of South Africa in 2021-22. So these types of tours are called ‘Shadow Tour’. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has currently banned such tours and the reason for this is the ODI World Cup to be held this year which is to be held in India only.
With the Indian board and team management currently focused on the 2023 ODI World Cup to be held at home, the ‘shadow tour’ with the India A team will have to wait until the year-end tour of South Africa. Let us tell you that the idea of this ‘shadow tour’ came inside the board when Rahul Dravid became the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The last time India A toured Bangladesh was in December last year, after which the Test team had to play two matches. Players like Mukesh Kumar from the same team were also included in the main squad later.
When will the Shadow Tour start?
A BCCI source spoke on the condition of confidentiality and said that apart from the WTC (World Test Championship) final this year, the focus will be on ODI cricket till the World Cup. That’s why A team’s tour for red ball matches i.e. shadow tour can happen only after November. India will tour South Africa for a Test in the next WTC cycle in December-January. There is every chance that India A’s ‘shadow tour’ will resume before then. For the time being, after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and before the ODI World Cup, the Indian team will play only three Tests, including a possible WTC final at The Oval and two Tests in the West Indies for the next WTC cycle in July-August.
Rohit Sharma shaking hands with Pujara and Bharat after winning the Delhi Test
Indian team will be tested this year
Last year the entire cricket world was in T20 mode. Team India’s performance in the T20 World Cup was also good, except for the semi-final in which England was defeated by 10 wickets. Now this year it is the turn of ODI and Test challenge. Where the final of the second edition of the Test Championship is to be held in June. At the same time, big tournaments like One Day Asia Cup and One Day World Cup will be played. This time the World Cup is in India, so the pressure will surely be on the home team as well. Earlier in 2011, when India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh jointly hosted the World Cup, the champion team was India. The final match was played by the Indian team at Wankhede in Mumbai and the semi-final match at Mohali. Now this time it has to be seen whether Team India can end the ICC trophy drought of last 10 years since 2013 or not.