The cricket control board’s working committee meet in Kolkata on Sunday brought good news for Sachin Tendulkar’s fans in the country as they will get a chance to see the Master Blaster play his 200th Test at home in the proposed series against the West Indies.
The 40-year-old, who has played 198 Tests, was to accomplish the feat on the tour of South Africa but the Indian board’s decision to squeeze in a home series against the West Indies in November will see him become the first cricketer ever to cross the mark.
“We have sent a proposal to the West Indies Cricket Board in this regard. We are hopeful of working out the modalities for the series,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying.
The series will have three one-dayers and two Tests with Kolkata and Mumbai as likely venues for the latter. The BCCI’s tours and fixtures committee will take a final decision on the scheduling.
The board’s decision though added weight to the speculation that Tendulkar, who has already retired from the limited-overs format, is likely to end his distinguished international career after his 200th Test.
Tendulkar’s numbers in the five-day format — 15,837 runs at an average of 53.86 with 51 centuries — are unmatched just like his statistics in the one-dayers.
While the Tendulkar factor cannot be ruled out in the board’s decision, the not-so-smooth relations between the BCCI and Cricket South Africa may too have played a role. But according to reports, the need for a home series arose purely out of financial considerations.
“If we don’t have a home series, we face a deficit of almost `300 crore, hence we are keen to have a series in India,” a board member was quoted as saying on Saturday.
The original tour to South Africa had three Tests, seven ODIs and two T20s which was reduced by one Test. And now, it is likely that India will play five ODIs instead of seven.
“I’ve not said that the South Africa series will be scrapped. It’s definitely on. We have just proposed a West Indies series in November. Neither was there any discussions on the South Africa series nor did any member raise any questions on the series,” sidelined BCCI president N. Srinivasan said after the meeting.