India’s future plan ready, 64 young players will get opportunity, Vaibhan’s name in discussion

The Indian Test team is going through a phase of change after the retirement of experienced players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin. During this transition period, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is working on a new strategy keeping the future in mind. The board’s focus is not limited to just winning matches, rather it is emphasizing on the players’ technique, mental strength and long-term preparation. BCCI’s Center of Excellence based in Bengaluru is running this entire scheme.

Vaibhav’s name in discussion

The center of this new thinking includes giving opportunities to young talents. Especially the name of 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi is increasingly being discussed, who is being considered as the next big star of Indian cricket. Seeing his talent, demand has started rising to include him in the national team soon. Apart from Vaibhav, young players like Ayush Mhatre and Sameer Rizvi are also an important part of this long-term plan.

In this direction, BCCI has decided to organize a four-day tournament between four teams during June-July. A total of 64 players will participate in this competition, whose age will be less than 25 years. These matches will be played on different types of pitches, so that the players’ technical ability, patience and ability to adapt to different conditions can be assessed.

The aim of this initiative is not just to organize a tournament, but to prepare a strong Test team for the coming 10 years. The selection process has also been kept balanced. Around 25 players will be selected from junior level tournaments like Cooch Behar Trophy and CK Nayudu Trophy. While 25 players will be selected from Ranji Trophy and domestic cricket circuit, the remaining places will be given to emerging players who have performed well in the Indian Premier League.

Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir played important roles in the plan.

The role of Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar and Head Coach Gautam Gambhir will be very important in this entire plan. This is a clear indication that BCCI is building the team not under short-term but long-term strategy. Further teams will be selected on the basis of performance in this tournament. After the 19th season of IPL, India’s Under-19 and Emerging team will go on a tour of Sri Lanka, where four-day matches will be played.

In the last one and a half years, the dominance of the Indian team in Test cricket has weakened somewhat. After being invincible at home for a long time, the team had to face defeat against teams like New Zealand and South Africa. In such a situation, BCCI is now taking concrete steps to strengthen the future. If this plan is successful then the Indian Test team can emerge with a new identity in the coming years.