BCCI gives Tests in New Zealand a miss in the 2018-19 season

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently revealed the fixtures for the 2018-19 season of cricket for the Indian cricket team. The fixtures clearly suggest that the cricket fans will get to see a lot of matches during this particular season of cricket. Much to the happiness of the fans, the Indian team has planned out a very balanced fixtures for the 2018-19.

This includes an equal representation of home and the away fixtures. Also, it is worth noting that the Indian team will be playing against a lot of teams in the season, which includes the likes of lower ranked sides like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Ireland. The Virat Kohli-led side recently registered their first ever ODI series win on the South African soil.

Now, they will have a chance to play in the backyards of England, Australia, and New Zealand in the coming season. While the England and the Australia tour are set to be full tours comprising of Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, the Indian tour of New Zealand will have only ODIs and T20Is. The BCCI has a very unique, and bizarre in some aspect, reason for the same.

The BCCI has taken a policy decision of not playing Test cricket in New Zealand as 3:30 am IST start to Test matches is not commercially viable for the world’s richest cricket board. Certainly, the BCCI is taking their revenues very seriously. More importantly, they are keen on safeguarding the interests of the broadcasters, who have reported poor turnouts for the Test matches played in New Zealand.

India is scheduled to tour New Zealand in January 2019. The Indian side will be playing 5 ODIs and as many as 5T20Is during the tour. The decision of the BCCI looks pretty much justified on the commercial front. But it would have really been interesting to see how this powerful Indian side fares up in the testing green seaming tracks of New Zealand in the Test matches.

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