India ‘A’ plan revival on the cards to groom bench strength | Cricket News

NCA head VVS Laxman (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Test series defeat to New Zealand on home soil has prompted the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to make efforts to revive the robust ‘A’ programme to groom bench strength for the top tier Indian team.
National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman is working on a plan to create a player resource pool, TOI has learnt. The ‘A’ programme was a very dynamic initiative under previous NCA head Rahul Dravid, who used to tour with developmental teams round the year.
The ‘A’ programme suffered after the Covid-19 lockdown because boards of other countries refused to bear the expense of hosting India’s U-19 and ‘A’ teams, a BCCI source said.”Other boards have communicated to the BCCI that they can’t bear the expenses of an ‘A’ tour. The BCCI has still tried to organize a couple of shadow ‘A’ tours like the one which precedes India’s Test tour of Australia. Laxman is working on it to come up with a plan that will offer greater exposure to the next generation of cricketers,” a source said.
“Other boards are reluctant to host these ‘A’ series, which don’t generate any revenue for them. The expenses must be borne by the local board. What needs to be worked out is a way to make these tours affordable.
“Earlier this year, there was an ‘A’ series against England Lions just ahead of England’s tour of India. That series offered the selectors a good perspective on where the players stand. The board also needs to see that Emerging tournaments and other series where two India teams are on separate tours don’t coincide with the Ranji Trophy. Almost 60 players are busy on such assignments this season and that hampers the quality of Ranji,” the source said.
The impact of the ‘A’ programme was on view during the last tour of Australia as the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar stepped up in the absence of seniors.