Board of Control for Cricket in India Plans Red-Ball Revival, Focus on Young Stars Like Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is barely 15 years old, and it won't be long before he makes his mark on India's senior team. However, there are a couple more hurdles that the youngster needs to clear. According to reports, the BCCI has chalked out a unique plan for this. This follows because Indian red-ball cricket has taken a nosedive. The defeats against New Zealand and South Africa have left India vulnerable in their own backyard. It would be an uphill task for India to make it to the WTC finals.

According to media reports, the BCCI's Center of Excellence (CoE), under the guidance of VVS Laxman, has developed a detailed plan. Under this plan, promising young players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre will play in a four-day red-ball intra-CoE tournament in June-July. The aim is to identify and create a supply chain so that India's red-ball talent is fully prepared for the next 10 years. It is reported that 64 young cricketers under the age of 25 will participate in this tournament.

These players will be divided into four teams of 16 each, and each team will play two four-day red-ball matches at the CoE. Different types of pitches will be provided to provide each team with proper match practice. The report also states that all coaches and national selectors have been instructed that the primary objective of most of the high-performance camps, to be held in Bengaluru over the course of a year, will be to align the talent pool to meet future requirements.

The report, quoting a BCCI source, stated that India's Emerging Team will only include players under the age of 25, and these players will also be part of India's A teams for shadow tours. This roadmap will be developed with full input from senior selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir.

It is reported that as soon as the Indian Premier League 2026 concludes, both the India Under-19 and Emerging Under-25 teams will tour Sri Lanka for four-day matches. These teams will be selected based on the players' performance in the intra-COE tournament.

The 25 cricketers (U-23) will be selected by the junior selection committee headed by S. Sharath. The other 25 cricketers (U-23 and U-25) will be selected by the senior selection committee. These will include players who have performed well in the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, players selected from these tournaments will be those who did not play in the IPL. In addition to these 50, 14 other players will be IPL players, including Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre, and Sameer Rizvi.