Cricket in quandary!

The Board of Control for Cricket in India needs plenty of education in how to maintain a good communication channel with the media. For long, the BCCI has been seen as a body which prefers to either keep things under wraps or leave everyone guessing as their emails lack clarity.

Last week was no different as the terse email from the Indian cricket board named the players for the three T20 internationals against New Zealand, starting on November 17 at home. The fresh news, as expected, was that Rohit Sharma will be the new T20 captain. It did not come as a surprise to anyone that he would be the new leader.

For years, lack of clarity in communication from the BCCI has led to a lot of guesswork. Most of the news gets interpreted, rightly or wrongly, which only goes to show the BCCI does not care about how important communication is, and that it needs to be improved.

With Virat Kohli having made it clear well before the ICC World T20 that he was giving up captaincy in the T20 format, the BCCI needed to draw up a future plan and announce it to all concerned. No, instead, the email only said Rohit Sharma would lead in the home series. Worse, there was no mention if the top players who have not been chosen for the three T20s were rested or dropped. It includes names of Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohd Shami.

The inclusions and omissions for the T20s are now something which fans have to decode on their own. It is also not clear what stopped the BCCI from announcing the squad for the two Tests against New Zealand then and there. It was only on Friday, after the news had been leaked to a few newspapers, the Test squad was announced. This time, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant have been rested for the two Tests. With Kohli "not available" for the first Test, Ajinkya Rahane will lead. King Kohli will return for the second Test. For all those speculating on the inconsistency of Rahane, the fact that he is captain for the first Test clears the cobweb of uncertainty. The same goes for Cheteshwar Pujara, who will be his deputy in the first Test.

All this intrigue in Indian team selection is highly avoidable. Perhaps, no other cricket board in the world is so unprofessional in the communications department. First things first, after the disastrous and dismal campaign which India had in the ICC World T20, courtesy demanded that BCCI thanked the outgoing captain and the coach Ravi Shastri. No such niceties were extended, though the two leaders spoke to the team at length in the dressing room after the last league match in the UAE.

However, the same BCCI did prefer to show some transparency and communication when they picked the two new franchises for the Indian Premier League from the 2022 season.

So, what is the BCCI's plan for the future? As of now, all one knows is Rohit will lead in the T20s and it is expected he will also be given charge of the ODI captaincy very soon. That puts a lot of load on his shoulders, given the two big assignments coming up in 2022 and 2023.

Australia will host the ICC World T20 in 2022 and the ODI World Cup will be held in 2023. Given India's poor showing in the ICC tournaments, it is clear the BCCI expects the new leaders — Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid — to deliver. The gap between the end of India's campaign in the UAE and the fresh tour by New Zealand is short.

It just tells you the cricket show will go on, non-stop. Players can come and go, captains and coaches are dispensable. Luckily, there is no dearth of talent in India; though to expect all of them to become match-winners overnight is foolish.

If the BCCI really cares for its players, the board must explain the selection process and its strategy. It will be really good. One can safely assume all issues relating to player burnout (if there is truth in it) and Bio Bubble fatigue are not going to be talked about by the BCCI. Logic demands that the BCCI selection committee gives proper information to the media. But then, these days, all one gets is a press release and no quotes from selectors or the chairman of the selection committee, Chetan Sharma.

Looking ahead at the next two-year cycle, it does appear Rohit is going to be the boss in the shorter formats and he has to work out the long-term plan with Dravid. Both men are well versed with leadership qualities, though to be at the rudder of Team India is a much bigger challenge.

Rohit's form and feel are good. He has shown good leadership skills as the Mumbai Indians captain. Yet, to take charge of the team in a new environment will be very challenging. Some players who were in the defrost have been pulled out. It's almost like pulling out frozen food from the deep freezer and putting it in the microwave oven for heating!

In this case, maybe some players are themselves surprised — R Ashwin is one such notable name. One thing is clear, the amount of cricket which India plays and will continue to play in the international calendar is huge. It is impossible for the same set of players to feature in all three formats. And that includes even Rohit. The BCCI also needs to show priority. Dropping Rohit for two Tests at home and making him T20 captain looks illogical. A younger captain like KL Rahul would have been better in the short format.

Back to Kohli, none knows if he will be part of the T20 mix in the future. This is not to suggest that he has lost his touch and grace as a batsman, but to continue non-stop is impossible. Kohli is not growing younger and needs to be preserved. The West Indies pressed several 35-plus players into the national T20s squad and they flopped in the ICC World T20.

Players need to be assessed continuously, not just in terms of physical fitness, but also how they feel mentally. The Bio Bubble is hard and to be away from normal life and have zero interaction with family and friends is not easy to deal with. Perhaps, Dravid needs to take the lead in planning the path ahead.

For those who are expecting miracles from Dravid and Rohit Sharma in the coming two years, there is nothing wrong. Under Shastri and Kohli/Ajinkya Rahane, India showed great results in the Test series in Australia and England. Playing at home and playing abroad is so different.

The tour to South Africa will definitely be a great challenge. Where one expects maximum clarity is in going to the drawing board and chalking out which players need to be used best in which format. There can be an overlap between T20 and ODIs, but to flog the same players in Test would be akin to cruelty.

If that is to happen, it is bound to result in a drop in performances of players. One has to learn from England, Australia and New Zealand on how players need to be preserved. Given the load which IPL puts on players, everyone now agrees it can drain out the best.

Today, if people are talking about the gap between IPL and the ICC World T20 having affected Team India, you can only sympathise to some extent. As professionals who earn big bucks, they are expected to function like machines. The BCCI is unforgiving, the fans are ruthless and the media doesn't spare bad performances.

Hopefully, the changes at the helm will result in better outcomes in the shorter formats of white ball cricket. It is the failure in two successive ICC events in 2019 and 2021 which has led to an upheaval in Indian cricket. Rohit and Dravid definitely need best wishes and prayers from over a billion fans in India.

Views expressed are personal