Hectic schedule ahead for Indian cricketers

The next 14 months would keep the Indian cricketers busy as the team is scheduled to play as many as 22 Tests and over 40 One-day Internationals during the period.

After returning from the on-going tour of Zimbabwe, the Indians will play three Tests each against Sri Lanka, South Africa and England, all before the end of this year.

The team will also play a minimum of three matches (and a maximum of four should they qualify for the final) in the Asia Test championship, two against Zimbabwe in India and four each in West Indies and England next year, a BCCI source said in Mumbai on Thursday.

During this period, the team is also expected to turn out in a maximum number of 41 ODIs which means the players are expected to be on the field once every 72 hours on an average which makes for a hectic schedule, the sources added.

Added to this hectic playing schedule is the amount of air travel which, put together with the time spent on the field, can be really tiring.

In case the BCCI approves the three-match one-day series in Melbourne and Brisbane, the team may have to travel to the African continent straight from Australia for the gruelling tour to South Africa commencing on October 2 and featuring three Tests and a triangular series with Kenya as the third team.

Earlier, the Indians will take on Sri Lanka in a three-Test series in July-August to be followed by a triangular event also involving New Zealand which is scheduled to end on September 2.

Then comes the Asian Test Championship match with Pakistan before the Indians travel to Australia for the three-match Super Challenge 2001 and from there on to South Africa.

The Indians are scheduled to come back from South Africa only towards the end of November and are slated to play a three-match series in December against England. The Englishmen are to return home in time for Christmas before coming back for a five-match limited over series against India in January, 2002.

Zimbabwe would arrive next in February-March for a two-Test series rubber followed by either a five-match bilateral series (between India and Zimbabwe) or a 13-match quadrangular event featuring these two teams along with Pakistan and the West Indies which is at a planning stage now.

Two more Tests, against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, need to be played by the team as part of the ATC during this period before the team leaves in April for the West Indies.

The team will return towards the end of May before embarking to England for a tri-series involving Sri Lanka as the third side, followed by the Test series.