More exposure tours for India A

With the stated objective of giving more exposure to upcoming and fringe players, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has planned various matches both at home and abroad for India A side next year.

The board has agreed to send the India A team for a tour of South Africa in July 2013, where they are scheduled to play three four day games, two T20 games and three one dayers. With India's tour of South Africa scheduled for later in the year, the board believes that the India A tour will help players who may break into the senior squad get an experience of the longer format of the game under South African conditions.

"There are players who have played IPL or Champions League but many still haven't got a chance to play the longer format in South Africa. There are many players, who might benefit from this," a BCCI official said. After the South Africa tour, India A is scheduled to play New Zealand A and West Indies A at home, after having toured those countries earlier this year. "As New Zealand and West Indies hosted us before, this time their teams will visit to India. As the tour will coincide with the monsoon period most of the matches will be played in South Zone," the BCCI official added.

The BCCI is also planning to conduct an emerging player tournament featuring four Asian teams — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and one non-Test playing country. The tournament is likely to be held in Singapore with dates yet to be finalised.

To avoid the scheduled matches conflicting with other fixtures, the board has decided to create a exclusive four-month window during the the monsoon season for India A assignments. "We will not have any India A games once our domestic season starts. There is no point in having A tours then because most of them will be busy in Ranji Trophy. The four months of monsoon period will henceforth be used only for our fringe side," the BCCI official said.

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