Team management rejected BCCI's idea to send Test regulars early to acclimatise, claims report

[Lannister]

I can see where this is leading to. 3-0 drubbing at the hands of saffers. Lots of people are waiting for him to fail and when he do they will not hesitate to bury him, especially after what transpired with Kumble. 

[LordPrabhzy]

I love my cricket and my team but for the sake if our betterment i hope they lose 3-0 in SA and then 5-0 in Eng and also lose in Aus next winter.

 

Hope fully that should be a stick up BCCI and team management;s butt in order for them to make drastic changes.

[Suhaan]

What a sight will that be Shastri being dumped after 3-0 5-0 loss

[Number]

And BCCI is so gutless that it succumbs to captain-coach duo's tantrums. 

[Pollack]

7 minutes ago, Number said:

And BCCI is so gutless that it succumbs to captain-coach duo's tantrums. 

Captain is the boss. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot. And here we are talking about a star player who is a captain

[maniac]

I have never seen a captain enjoy this much power since Dhoni...even  Dhoni’s tenure for the first half  looked like he was not above the law.

 

List every big name who has been captain of India and you can maybe list 1 or 2 demands that went their way max.

 

This is ridiculous and also scary. 

[Khota]

What a shame. So this schedule is around Kohlis wedding I guess. Mr. Kohli can be comfortable with his honeymoon etc. Shame.

Edited January 10, 2018 by Khota

[Stuge]

and Kohli was blaming schedule ....I guess I have missed something .

[sensible-indian]

Quote

 

Did the Indian team miss a trick by rejecting BCCI’s offer to send Test specialists to South Africa a few weeks before the first Test to acclimatise? The BCCI officials, including the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA), had asked the team management whether it wants to send its core players to South Africa, but found no takers, The Indian Express has learnt.

The board had even suggested that top Test players could skip the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and travel instead to South Africa.

“The BCCI had offered Indian team management that the core group of Test team can be sent to South Africa early. Players like Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane are not part of limited overs cricket and were playing local cricket here. The BCCI was ready to bear the cost but team management showed no interest and declined the offer,” a BCCI official told this newspaper. “We were even ready to let top players skip ODI and T20 legs of the series against Sri Lanka.”

The Indian team also decided to cancel the scheduled practice game, opting instead for extra practice sessions. They took rookie seamers along with them to South Africa to be deployed at the training sessions. The Indian Test team left for South Africa on December 28 and the first Test started on January 5.

The decision of the team management not to send players in advance to South Africa has become a talking point in the BCCI after India’s 72-run loss in the first Test. Most batsmen struggled to handle the seam movement and bounce in both the innings, and the bowlers let South Africa off the hook after reducing them to 12 for 3.

A day after a bruising loss in the first Test, Virat Kohli, India’s captain, had disagreed that the team’s preparation could have been better. “We were very well prepared. I don’t think we felt any lack of preparation. Even they got out for 130 in the second innings and they play here all the time. It was a wicket where things were happening every day. And I think we let ourselves down with the bat, that’s for sure.” Kohli had said.

Back in India, the cricket board feels that it was team management’s call to take up their suggestion. “Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were sent to Australia or New Zealand where they played with local teams before joining the Indian team. The BCCI has no problem in arranging practice games before any overseas tour. It’s the team management which has to take the call. When Dravid had requested for early trip to New Zealand the board straight away said yes as these Under-19 boys have not played in New Zealand before,” the source said.

The BCCI had approved the request from India Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid to send the team to New Zealand more than two weeks before the world cup. The BCCI ensured the Under-19 team played Central Districts before their two practice games with international Under-19 teams, as scheduled by ICC.

It’s not only U-19, the Indian women’s team will reach South Africa a week before they play their first ODI.

Kohli talked about how the Indian team recovered well in both innings but questions remain if proper acclimatising would have helped them not to lose grip in the first place. “We rectified the errors we made in the first innings by letting them off after having them 12 for 3. We plugged that gap pretty nicely in the morning today (fourth and final day of the Test). Getting them out for 208 felt chaseable, it felt very realistic, but again we needed someone to go out there and get 75 or 80 and not 20-25-30 runs. We wanted one big partnership to get the job done which we failed to do and again we lost four wickets in four overs. If you do that, it is very tough for you to come back and win Test matches from there. But having been put under pressure twice, we came back really nicely into the game and gave ourselves a fair chance of winning this Test match even after not having played our best cricket.”

 

http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/team-management-declined-bcci-offer-to-send-core-players-to-south-africa-early-5018196/

I am speechless.

Edited January 11, 2018 by sensible-indian

[AmreekanDesi]

Wouldn't have made a difference to be honest provided they were doing the necessary preparation otherwise

 

in a way I even understand team managements reluctance for a practise game. If we had played it more than likely it would have been a 2nd XI of second grade domestic side on pitches nowhere near what we find in Tests 

[asterix]

If by team management, you mean Kohli & Shastri, you shouldn’t be surprised...
There’s a reason why Kumble was removed...

[prinzo]

Practice Match didnt guerentee that I Dia would of won 1st test match 

[sensible-indian]

8 minutes ago, AmreekanDesi said:

Wouldn't have made a difference to be honest provided they were doing the necessary preparation otherwise

 

in a way I even understand team managements reluctance for a practise game. If we had played it more than likely it would have been a 2nd XI of second grade domestic side on pitches nowhere near what we find in Tests 

 

5 minutes ago, prinzo said:

Practice Match didnt guerentee that I Dia would of won 1st test match 

Guys, read the article properly.

 

I didn't highlight the declined practice match part for a reason cos I know it won't solve our problems. That's not the issue here.

[Forever Indian]

16 minutes ago, prinzo said:

Practice Match didnt guerentee that I Dia would of won 1st test match 

Nothing guarantees that you will win a match, then why practise or prepare at all? They don't say for fun: 'Fail to Prepare, then Prepare to Fail'

[prinzo]

8 minutes ago, sensible-indian said:

 

Guys, read the article properly.

 

I didn't highlight the declined practice match part for a reason cos I know it won't solve our problems. That's not the issue here.

HI sir, 100% understand. This is the direct result of poor planning by Bcci. SL AND SA SERIES COMBINED WITH virat wedding, receptions etc. News years Bach in cape Town. DJ shastri etc. 

And to top it of the new wife of Virat Nagging the crap out of him. 

Let see if India can prove us wrong. 

Gurennteed SA Wil severely target the replacement on India if it is made. I'm so excited for this match

[prinzo]

Just now, Forever Indian said:

Nothing guarantees that you will win a match, then why practise or prepare at all? They don't say for fun: 'Fail to Prepare, then Prepare to Fail'

100%

[prinzo]

1 minute ago, Forever Indian said:

Nothing guarantees that you will win a match, then why practise or prepare at all? They don't say for fun: 'Fail to Prepare, then Prepare to Fail'

100%, south africa is not Zimbabwe or Kenya, fail to prepare against a top side is not good, results will speak for themselves. 

[sensible-indian]

18 minutes ago, Forever Indian said:

Nothing guarantees that you will win a match, then why practise or prepare at all? They don't say for fun: 'Fail to Prepare, then Prepare to Fail'

I think he was referring to the fact that arriving late and playing just one practice game against substandard bowlers on easy pitches is of no use.

 

Its true to a certain extent. India should hav landed before, took part in a lot of net sessions, then played a couple of practice games to get a feel of live match situation before going into the first test.

Edited January 11, 2018 by sensible-indian