India set for lighter overall cricket schedule in 2019-23; home games to increase

Faced with an almost barren 2018 that will slice through its massive revenue from TV rights, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced a “20 percent” increase in home matches in the next Future Tours Programme (FTP) from 2019 to 2023.

The schedule approved in the BCCI Special General Meeting held here appears to have nailed several issues in one go. It seeks to increase home matches to ensure its biggest revenue pie – TV rights – is not affected.

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At the same time, number of match days has been cut – from 390 in the current FTP (2015-19) to 306. Even if two ICC events, World Cup and Champions Trophy, India are due to host during the cycle are taken, the match days won’t exceed 350, BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told the media after the meeting.

FOCUS ON TV DEAL

The BCCI signed a whopping Rs 16,347.5 crore IPL TV deal with Star for 2018-2022. But getting a lucrative deal for home games when the current TV deal ends in March will be a challenge.

Thus, the number of home games in four years will go from 51 to 81. The world’s richest cricket body also seems to have borrowed from the controversial Big Three formula, pushed through in the International Cricket Council in 2014 under N Srinivasan but set aside under Shashank Manohar this year.

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Choudhary said more than half of India’s matches would be against Australia, England and South Africa – top teams who also attract big bucks.

The BCCI also decided it would look to play only at home between October and March, when weather will ensure little disruption and draw the biggest crowds. The first three months will be its primary season, Choudhary said.

The FTP also addresses the concerns of too much cricket by skipper Virat Kohli, raised with Committee of Administrators chief, Vinod Rai. The focus will be on playing more limited-overs games. It will ensure fewer match days and more money as T20 is likely to dominate.

BIG THREE FORMULA

“While the FTP was earlier interactive partnerships between full member nations, quite independent of each other, here they are being aided to dovetail into each other. It will be formalised only in February, when the ICC board and chief executives’ committee meet,” Choudhary said.

The ICC announced in October a Test Championship (2019-2021) where teams must play six opponents (part of a nine-team league) with a final to decide the winner, besides an ODI league featuring 13 teams, to provide context to the games.

But Chaudhary declaring that most of India’s matches would be with the top three teams made it a new “Top Four” league the rest of the cricket world will have to deal with.

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“In terms of proportion, at home it has been an increase of about 20 percent on the base (previous FTP), which is substantial. Also the fact that a little more than half the games in this proposed FTP will be against Australia, England and south Africa. Overall 51 games in all three formats put together will now go up to 81 at home.”

Is the plan to play more against the big sides a sign of things to come in Tests?

“You can say so, you can say so. But then these are (well), time is not constant. There will be changes. These are things which will keep happening. And we will continue to deal with them.”