In new FTP, Team India will get enough practice time, says COA chief Vinod Rai

Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, Team India has played brilliantly across all the formats of the game last year, but the high number of games has forced the Indian skipper to voice up against the tight schedule. After winning the Test series at home against Sri Lanka in the end part of 2017, he had openly criticized the increased workload on the players which forced them to play continuously in longer terms without enough breaks. COA chief Rai assured the players that the new FTP programme has been prepared keeping their concerns in their mind and that in the new calendar the team will get enough time to practice ahead of any commitment. According to the new FTP, the team will play 37 Tests, 67 ODIs, and 54 T20s matches between 2019 and 2023.

“2017 was fairly crowded calendar. Players had to play a large number of matches. That fatigue factor health and injury factors are taken care of (in the new FTP). Now we have ensured that match programme is not so crowded and the players get enough time to prepare,” Rai told PTI.

“The number of days that the cricketers have been on the ground and travelling and playing in 2017 calendar was unbelievable. The fatigue factor is back-breaking. You’re playing because somebody has to generate revenue. It may be a BCCI or state association. I think it’s very unfair.”

After finishing the long home series against Sri Lanka, India visited the Rainbow nation where the skipper decided to drop the idea of playing practice games and instead of that they chose to practice with their own pacers. India lost the first two games of the three-match Test series by 72 runs and 135 runs respectively.

“We probably would have performed better if we had more match practice before we went there. We could not help it because this FTP had drawn much earlier and could not make changes in it,” Rai said.

“How can you expect that you will continue winning all the time. This is a question of winning and losing both. We were up against a tough opposition and we put up a good fight but (ended up losing).

“There’s a review of every series. the manager submits the report and we review.”