Explained: BCCI’s red-ball revival special project at Centre of Excellence

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has prepared an extensive plan to revive India's red-ball fortunes after poor performances over the last few seasons at home. India were clean swept by South Africa 2-0 at home last year to add to the ignominy of getting whitewashed by New Zealand 3-0 a year before that.

The poor results at home, where the team was considered invincible once, raised eyebrows with fans demanding head coach Gautam Gambhir's resignation. However, BCCI has stuck with Gambhir and decided to revamp the internal red-ball structure to ensure that the best talent emerges for the future red-ball matches.

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Big red-ball plan under Laxman's guidance

According to Revsportz, BCCI is aiming to make a pool of young cricketers especially suited for red-ball cricket. A detailed strategy has been developed under the leadership of Centre of Excellence head of cricket and former India great VVS Laxman.

Emerging prospects from India A and U-19 setups will be targetted by CoE who will then be groomed for red-ball cricket under the presence of former India players.

Around 50–55 players under the age of 25 have reportedly been shortlisted for the initiative. Not the Indian Premier League, but performances in domestic tournaments such as the U23 CK Nayudu Trophy and the Ranji Trophy is being looked at to find these youngsters.

Indian legends to impart knowledge

Big names like Zaheer Khan, Vinay Kumar, Sunil Joshi, Wasim Jaffer, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Laxmipathy Balaji are reportedly involved in the plan. These legends will be guiding this pool of players who will be available for specialised camps. The publication reports that a 25-day camp that will run till May 7 will be conducted with proper emphasis on fitness and skill development.

Among the youngsters named in the report are: Ayush Mhatre, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Priyansh Arya, Prashant Veer and Sameer Rizvi. All these players have impressed in the IPL and are being looked at as potential India options in the future. Several other names will also be in the camp. Those playing in the IPL will join it after the league ends.

Group of 25 to be chosen

According to the Revsportz report, these players will participate in two 90-over matches on centre pitches. Here, they would be exposed to various hypothetical match scenarios to sharpen their decision-making and adaptability. Alongside physical training for red-ball cricket, mental aspect of days cricket will also be inculcated in the youngsters.

The players will regroup again in late June or early July to play an intra-squad tournament where they would be divided into four groups. These would be multi-day matches to test the skills of these emerging stars.

These matches will be closely monitored by both senior and junior national selectors. Performance in these games will help the selectors shortlist a group of 25 players who will be sent on emerging tours to gain valuable experience.

BCCI is hoping to get a fresh pool of Test match ready talent through this strategy. It remains to be seen how some of the T20 stars like Sooryavanshi and Arya adapt to the multi-day format.