Virat Kohli and team to attend preparatory camp ahead of gruelling South Africa tour, confirms BCCI

Kolkata: The BCCI will squeeze in a camp for the Indian cricket team ahead of its gruelling South Africa tour, starting next month, the Board’s acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said on Saturday. The BCCI’s upcoming SGM may discuss the contentious issue of including Pakistan in the Future Tours Programme, Chaudhary added. [caption id=“attachment_4216703” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Indian cricket team will play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is in South Africa starting on 5 January. AFP[/caption] “There will be a camp ahead of the South Africa tour. There’s a little time, I understand that, but we will see what best can be done,” Chaudhary told reporters in Kolkata. The series against Sri Lanka will conclude with the third T20I in Mumbai on 24 December and India are scheduled to leave for South Africa four days later for a two-month long tour during which they will play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is beginning on 5 January in Cape Town. The ICC has given a green light to a nine-team Test league and a 13-team ODI league aimed at bringing context and meaning to bilateral cricket. They are due to start in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The Test league will see nine teams play six series over two years - three home and three away – with each having a minimum of two Tests and a maximum of five and all matches being played over five days culminating in a World Test League Championship Final. But there’s an impasse over resumption of bilateral ties between the India and Pakistan and Chaudhary said they were working out a solution. “In any World Cup or championship, if 20 teams play, is it possible to play all teams to play each of the other team? So the way is being found. “Obviously India-Pakistan is something that affects to a large extent. That’s being looked after. It’s not necessary to play every other team like in any other World Cup,” Chaudhary said ahead of the 1 December SGM in New Delhi. An irate BCCI treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry had shot off a letter to acting president CK Khanna and the acting secretary, asking them to share the FTP plans before the scheduled SGM. “Record my statement, nobody is in the dark, all members of the Board will be sent notice of the SGM along with relevant papers on each of the agenda points. “As far as writing letter is concerned, it’s the Constitution of India that has given rights to everyone to express. About not being in the loop, it’s not a fact. “Papers can’t be circulated in a vacuum once the agenda is specified, it will be done when the time is right.