Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill reportedly upset with BCCI over scheduling issue: 'Not much gap between IPL and...'

India head coach Gautam Gambhir and Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill are not happy with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to the overstressed schedule of the Indian men's team.

Just days after the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian players are set to host Afghanistan for an all-format series that begins with a Test match on June 6. The final of IPL 2026 takes place on May 31, leaving only a five-day gap between the league's end and the beginning of India's international commitments.

Gambhir, Gill not on same page with BCCI

According to a report in the Times of India, Gambhir and Gill had objected to Indian team's tight scheduling and yet their next series against Afghanistan has been scheduled in a manner far less than ideal.

The report states that due to such a short gap between the final of the IPL and the Test against Afghanistan, top India players are set to get a rest for the match. This would catapult consistent domestic performers into the Indian team.

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"There is not much gap between the IPL final and the Afghanistan Test, so the selectors and management will be wary of not burning out the players, as there are three ODIs, then the white-ball series in England," the publication reported quoting a source.

The report names Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Auqib Nabi and Devdutt Padikkal as the potential players who could get called up for Test duties in the absence of the senior stars like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and even captain Shubman Gill.

Gill's loose calendar plea not accepted

India have been poor in Tests in recent times with coach Gambhir bearing the brunt of the criticism. After the embarrassing 0-2 loss to South Africa at home, Gill had said that the team needed more time to prepare for their red-ball assignments.

"I think it's important to at least have some bit of preparation, some time [to prepare]. Especially when changing from white-ball format to red-ball. So this was one of the things that I was very keen on, and I think we'll take some action and we'll keep it in mind to be able to prepare well before the start of any red-ball series," the Indian captain had said.

"Maybe it would be easier to have a little loose calendar," Gill had wished.

However, that plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears as India's calendar remains packed for 2026-2027 as well.