Those who have planned the BCCI’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2019-23 have been smart in giving meticulous attention to the “performance and stature” of the current international teams that would appeal to the broadcasters for the four-year home media rights from April 2018.
On the basis of “performance and stature” assumption and for the purpose of scheduling the home international season (from April 2019), the BCCI positioned Australia, England and South Africa in Group-A, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh in Group-B, and Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland in Group-C.
The BCCI has also classified October to December as the Primary Home Season (PHS) and January to March as the Secondary Home Season (SHS). The BCCI members were informed about this at the Special General Meeting in New Delhi on Monday.
The four-year schedule was drawn under the premise of hosting one team from Group-A, two teams from Group-B and one team from Group-C, for the first first two seasons (2019-20,2020-21) and hosting one team from Group-A, one team from Group-B and two teams from Group-C for seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23).
The BCCI’s FTP has also proposed that it will own the IPL window in April-May for four years (2020-2023) and also the Asia Cup and Tri-Series Window in September.
The idea of protecting the PHS and SHS was meant to sustain interest in the game at home.
Star India is paying ₹43 crore for each Test, ODI and T20I, but statements have come from the senior officials of the television company that committing to ₹43 crore for a Test may not be a viable option again.
Star India currently has the ICC media rights up to 2023 and the IPL media rights from 2018 to 2022. It’s not known that if it would bid for the BCCI’s home media rights from April 2018.
BCCI’s acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary, who is on the ICC Board, will take up the BCCI FTP at the ICC’s quarterly conference in February 2018. There is a marginal change in the FTP for home internationals presented at the SGM (19 Tests, 35 ODIs, 27 Twenty20s) to the one circulated to the members before the SGM (19 Tests, 38 ODIs, 28 Twenty20s); the away internationals figures are (18 Tests, 29 ODIs, 26 Twenty20s). All this works out to 154 international matches for the 2019-23 cycle.
Choudhary announced that close to 52% of the home internationals will be against top teams and according to the FTP (2019-23), India would play 13 internationals against Australia, 14 against England and 15 against South Africa. A BCCI source said that the one-off Test against Afghanistan can happen only in the 2018-19 season.
