By CricketCountry Staff
Humiliated and dethroned from their No. 1 spot by England in their ongoing Test series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now seeking an extra tour game in Australia ahead of the Test series in December 2011, reports said.
Published: Aug 19, 2011, 05:28 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 19, 2011, 05:28 PM (IST)
India team struggled against swing and seam in the ongoing Test series against England © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Mumbai: Aug 19, 2011
Humiliated and dethroned from their No. 1 spot by England in their ongoing Test series, the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India is now seeking an extra tour game in Australia ahead of the Test series in December 2011, reports said.
The BCCI has written a letter to Cricket Australia, requesting another tour game to the itinerary, which will take the count of practice matches to two. But, the domestic cricket schedule in Australia may prove hindering, Hindustan Times reported.
India are set to play a four-day tour game against CA Chairman’s XI Canberra, before the four-match Test series begin from December 26.
After former captain Anil Kumble, had earlier expressed the need for at least two tour games ahead of any overseas series, the BCCI wrote to Cricket Australia.
However, CA is finding it tough to accommodate one more game. “This will be the first year that their Big Bash will be played on a franchise-based model. Plus, their first-class domestic tournament will also be on at the same time, so they are finding it difficult to create another team to face the visiting team,” a BCCI insider said.
BCCI and Team India have received a lot of flak after they lost the ongoing Test series to England by 0-3 and also their No. 1 spot in Test rankings. India played their only tour game against Somerset ahead of the Test series, which was missed by bigwigs such as skipper MS Dhoni and VVS Laxman.
Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher have hinted that the failure to acclimatise in English conditions is one of the reasons of poor performance.
