Reports | India-England series might see restructuring as board looks to settles the losses
Ben Stokes celebrating a wicket against India
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In order to settle the losses incurred due to COVID-19 pandemic, the BCCI is looking to replace five home Tests against England with three Tests, five ODIs and five T20Is. The official has also added that the India-Australia series will have to go through some changes and may start on December 10.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a wholesome change to the way sports was conducted and now that the T20 World Cup is on the verge of cancellation, this seems a close-door IPL is a distinct possibility. But the number of cancelled series in between has cost a bomb already, bringing the boards to their haunches who rely on broadcast money to run their structure. The domino effect will now see the BCCI playing Australia just after the IPL and that will soon be followed by a restructured England series to bring in the revenue.
"England are likely to play three Tests in India instead of five, followed by five T20s and five ODIs. That will also help compensate the host broadcaster who lost the India-South Africa series in March due to Covid," a BCCI official told ToI.
In all possibility, the India-Australia series will be the first international assignment for India during the pandemic, where the team was supposed to play four Tests, three ODIs and as many T20Is. However, considering the fact that T20 World Cup stands cancelled, the BCCI is ascertaining that series to be cancelled, making way for the Test series directly. The board is also hoping to have a direct pass to the bubble after two corona tests on each side of the world.
"The present (interim) schedule for the Australia tour was released by Cricket Australia (CA) with the first Test to begin on December 3. Also, to note is a three-match T20 series that was scheduled ahead of the Tests, to be followed by a three-match ODI series. One of those two - either T20s or ODIs - will have to be cancelled. Most likely the T20s because the format was put in place keeping the T20 World Cup in Australia in mind. Now, that's not happening, and IPL is. The start of the Test series will also be pushed by a week," the source added.
"The president talked about a shortened quarantine. What he may have meant was that players will go through two separate (Corona) tests before leaving for Australia and two tests after landing there and if all are negative, health authorities are indicating that two weeks of lockdown won't be necessarily mandatory. Teams can start practice," say sources.
