The BCCI is looking to make India’s international cricket calendar more player-friendly after concerns over a packed schedule and rising injuries. According to inputs provided by Express Sports, following its recent review meeting, the board has decided to work towards a better-structured Future Tours Programme (FTP), with more rest between series and enough time for players to recover before their next assignment. The focus will be on avoiding situations where players move from one demanding series to another without enough recovery time.
Another major change could come during tours of SENA countries — South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. Future schedules are expected to include enough time for players to acclimatise to local conditions, along with practice or warm-up matches before important series. The BCCI also discussed bringing back mandatory warm-up games ahead of major overseas tours. The meeting, attended by captain Shubman Gill, T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, head coach Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman, also included discussions around preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup. The overall aim is to reduce workload, give players more breathing room and help India arrive at major overseas assignments better prepared.
BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia promises better FTP for player rest and SENA preparation
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia admitted that India’s packed cricket schedule has become a major concern, with players increasingly struggling with injuries. Speaking after the BCCI review meeting, Saikia pointed to the demanding calendar and the impact of playing the IPL before international assignments. 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 had a 15-player team that went for the ODIs, and out of that 15, three or four players got injured. We have to take into consideration that they have played two months of IPL prior to that. So all this takes a toll on the health of the players.”
Saikia said the BCCI wants to address the issue through changes to the next Future Tours Programme. “The only challenge which we are facing is that there are too many matches in the year, and that is why in the next FTP we will do certain things, we will take certain measures,” he said. He added, “We have instructed our FTP persons who will be meeting very soon in various international forums that our FTP should be in such a way it should be scheduled that there is proper rest for the players as well as some kind of acclimatisation or some kind of friendly matches before any major series in SENA countries.”
