BCCI oppose Lord's hosting the final playoff of the Test championship

In the last two months, Indian players led by captain Virat Kohli have openly criticized the increased workload and Kohli, along with former skipper MS Dhoni, have argued that for the team to perform better and consistently over longer periods, the players needed to have enough break in between commitments. After winning the Test series at home against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Kohli once again stressed he was desperate for the break. In a Special Governing Body meeting, the Board of Control of Cricket, on Monday, decided that India will play 81 home games in the 2019-23 cycle, although the number of playing days has been reduced by 84 this time.

The BCCI CEO Johri said that during this FTP programme the board has the right to take the decision with whom and where they want to play as he seemed unhappy for the Lord’s hosting the Test Championship final playoff.

“The ICC's primary role is to facilitate working relationships between the member boards. Who we play and when we play is our prerogative. For instance, the BCCI expressed reservations on where the final playoff of the Test championship should be scheduled. Why should it be played at Lord's?” says Johri as quoted by Cricbuzz.

The political relationship between India with Pakistan forced the blue brigade not to play any bilateral series with the neighbor country. Johri explained the current situation and stated that the decision of playing with Pakistan will be taken after government’s approval.

“Those are the kind of things that required attention. We didn't want a structure in place where one team is penalised for no fault of theirs. If India doesn't play a home or away bilateral series with Pakistan until the central government clears the way forward, we had to take into account that the team cannot be penalised for sharing of points in the Test championship structure. Playing Pakistan, whether at home or away, is not in the hands of the BCCI. We have written to the Centre and we need to wait until we hear from them. But until then, we cannot be penalised for it,” he explained.

To sustain the image of the five-day game in international circuit ICC proposed the Test Championship and to revive the interest of fans they also ready to experiment four-day Test. The first four-day game is scheduled to be played between South Africa and Zimbabwe. India also always remained ready for the development of the game as recently they agreed to play and host Afghanistan's first-ever Test.

“India has offered to play Afghanistan in what is going to be their introduction to Test cricket. That itself is in line with how seriously we take Test cricket. We don't experiment with four-day Test matches like some other countries and our commitment to the format is as strong as ever. When you look at the FTP, you'll see that we play four Test matches more at home than in the old schedule,” he added.