5 MAJOR takeaways from BCCI’s review meeting in Mumbai
The BCCI review meeting took place in Mumbai on Thursday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally held a review meeting of India’s poor performances in all three formats of late. The meeting took place in Mumbai on Thursday, September 3.
It came after India lost the series 2-0 against Ireland, and also suffered a 4-0 whitewash against England in a five-match T20I series. If this was not enough, India also lost a three-match ODI series against Three Lions.
In Test cricket too, the woes continued. After India handsomely won the first Test against Sri Lanka, they had a great opportunity to close the series. They looked favourites to win the second match but the game ended in a draw as they failed to close the game despite enforcing a follow-on.
Indian team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir along with captains in Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer were present in the meeting. Secretary Devajit Saikia was at the helm of things; however, Ajit Agarkar was the notable absentee.
Key takeaways from BCCI’s review meeting
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1. No plan to appoint anyone as team director
There were a lot of speculations that VVS Laxman would be appointed as the Team director, especially after Gautam Gambhir’s poor performances as coach, barring two ICC titles. However, the BCCI secretary was frank enough to say that they don’t have any plan to appoint anyone as team director
2. Rohit Sharma to continue as India’s ODI team opener
Ahead of the meeting, there were reports which claimed the BCCI will discuss the future of Rohit Sharma. It was reported that even after his century in the third ODI against England at Lord’s, selectors weren’t keen to keep him in the scheme of things.
However, the BCCI secretary also cleared the air on the same. He stated that the premier batter is playing well and they don’t want to give any attention to the rumours.
3. Ajit Agarkar misses meeting due to personal reasons
Ajit Agarkar wasn’t present in the meeting either physically or virtually. At that time, Saikia mentioned that the review meeting was decided urgently, so Agarkar couldn’t attend due to personal reasons.
4. BCCI to make special roadmap for players to avoid injuries
The frequent injuries to players were also discussed during the meeting. The BCCI secretary admitted that injuries to players have happened because of a packed schedule. Speaking about the same, he said:
“Individual players are having injuries because they have to play a lot of matches. If you look at their schedule, in England, we have a 15-player team that went for the ODI, and out of that, 3 or 4 players got injured during the match. We have to think about the fact that they have played two months of IPL prior to that.
So all this takes a toll on the health of the players. To avoid those kinds of situations under the present FTPs, we are trying to find out some ways out. We have a protocol in place for how a player can come back to international matches after injury. We are taking feedback from the captains and head coach to chalk up a proper strategy to avoid these unwanted situations. In the next FTP, we will ensure proper rest for the players, acclimatization, or some practice matches before any major series in SENA countries.”
5. No changes to the selection committee
Ajit Agarkar’s tenure as head selector will end in September. There have been reports that BCCI are looking to change the selection committee, especially after the Rohit Sharma saga during England ODIs.
However, Saikia mentioned that there wasn’t any discussion on the selection committee. Their only focus was on team’s recent poor performances.
Where did BCCI review meeting took place?
The BCCI review meeting took place in Mumbai.
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