Two Indian cricket teams playing simultaneously a possibility: report

Seeing two different Indian cricket teams is action on the same can become a possibility if the BCCI's latest proposal gets a go-ahead. In order to make up for the lost cricket, time and revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BCCI plans on fielding a separate red-ball and white-ball team on the same in order to maximise profits once the situation gets better and cricket can resume.

With no insurance, the BCCI is estimated to lose a total over Rs 3800 crore if the IPL 2020 is cancelled, a situation that could turn true now that there is has been no word on the future of the T20 tournament. Of the entire amount, approximately Rs 3269 crore is suffered by host broadcasters Star, who had signed a staggering deal of Rs 6138 crore in 2018.

The idea of two Indian teams playing two different matches may be a logistical nightmare but it allows the BCCI to limit the damages. In March, India's three ODI series against South Africa was called off and doubts continue to surround England's limited-overs tour of India later this year in September-October. It would result in further losses for the BCCI.

"None of us know when sport, especially international cricket will resume. But if we have to safeguard all our stakeholders - from sponsors to spectators - one of the options is to select two different squads and play a Test series and a T20I series simultaneously," a BCCI official told Sportstar.

If the idea gets a nod, India could be the second team after Australia to play different teams within hours. In February 2017, Australia had played a T20I against Sri Lanka in Adelaide on February 22, and on the next day, their Test team played India in Pune in the first game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The plan has apparently been run through the coaching staff and they are trying to work out a way to divide two teams.