India’s push for greater recovery and preparation time in the next international calendar will move to Dubai later this month, with the BCCI seeking more space between commitments following concerns over player workloads and injuries.
The next Future Tours Programme (FTP) workshop is scheduled for September 22 and 23, when boards will begin working through the international schedule for the 2027–31 cycle. According to a report by Cricbuzz journalist Vijay Tagore, operations teams from the boards are expected to attend the Dubai meetings, along with representatives from the top eight Associate members.
For the BCCI, the workshop provides an opportunity to address what it sees as an increasingly congested schedule. The board wants India’s future commitments arranged to provide players with sufficient recovery time while creating preparation windows ahead of major overseas series.
BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, speaking to reporters after a review meeting, said: “The challenge we are facing is that there are too many matches in the year, and that is why, in the next FTP, we will do certain things and take certain measures.”
The BCCI particularly wants additional preparation before tours of South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia, including opportunities for players to acclimatise to local conditions before major series.
Saikia added: “We have instructed our FTP people, who will be meeting very soon at various international forums, that our FTP should be scheduled in such a way that there is proper rest for the players, as well as some kind of acclimatisation or friendly matches before any major series in SENA countries.”
Injuries add urgency to India’s scheduling push
The BCCI’s position follows injury issues affecting a number of Indian players amid a demanding sequence of competitions. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and B. Sai Sudharsan have all missed recent tours despite initially receiving conditional selections because of injuries.
For the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan, the participation of Bumrah, Sundar, Reddy and Harshit Rana has also been made subject to fitness.
Saikia has linked the injury situation to the volume of cricket being played and the limited recovery periods between competitions. He pointed to India’s England ODI squad, where several players suffered injuries after arriving on the back of approximately two months of IPL cricket, as an example of the workload challenge facing the board.
The BCCI is now looking for ways within the FTP structure to reduce that physical burden while continuing to meet India’s international commitments.
Creating additional space will not be straightforward. India is scheduled to host England for five Tests at the beginning of 2028 before touring Australia later that year, with a tentative tour of England following in 2029 and Australia due to visit India in 2031.
Those bilateral commitments sit alongside four major ICC events during the cycle: the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the 2029 Champions Trophy in India, the 2030 T20 World Cup in England, Scotland and Ireland, and the 2031 ODI World Cup in India and Bangladesh. World Test Championship commitments will place further demands on the calendar.
Multilateral series could return to international calendar
While boards work through those scheduling pressures, the next FTP cycle could also produce a wider change in how international cricket is packaged.
According to Cricbuzz, there is growing support among boards for a return of more multilateral competitions, with some bilateral cricket becoming less attractive financially and struggling to generate the same level of audience interest.
Tri-series and quadrangular tournaments have largely disappeared from the international schedule despite once being a regular part of the calendar. A T20I tri-series involving Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe concluded on Sunday, with South Africa winning the tournament, while only one ODI tri-series has taken place since the 2019 World Cup, involving Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
India last participated in a tri-series at the 2018 Nidahas Trophy with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Its previous three appearances following the 2011 World Cup came in ODI tournaments in Australia in 2011–12, the West Indies in 2013 and Australia in 2014–15.
India has not hosted such a competition since the 2003–04 TVS Cup involving Australia and New Zealand. One commercial challenge for any BCCI-hosted multilateral tournament would be the value of matches not involving India, with the economics and media-rights structure likely to be important considerations in determining whether the format becomes more attractive.
Pakistan-India could provide major commercial opportunity
A revival of multilateral cricket could also create a new route for Pakistan and India to play each other outside ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments.
According to a report by ARY News, the ICC is exploring the possibility of a commercially attractive tri-series or four-team competition featuring Pakistan and India alongside one or two additional countries.
The PCB has advocated a similar model for several years. Bilateral cricket between Pakistan and India has remained suspended since 2013, leaving multi-team tournaments as the principal setting in which the two countries have subsequently faced each other.
Pakistan-India matches remain among international cricket’s biggest audience draws, giving a potential multi-nation competition substantial broadcast and sponsorship appeal. Such a format could allow the fixture to take place without requiring a resumption of a conventional bilateral series.
Any cricket between the two countries would still require the necessary government clearances. Should the concept progress, the UAE, England and Australia have been identified as possible neutral locations for a tournament.
The September meetings in Dubai will therefore bring together several different pressures shaping the 2027–31 calendar: India’s demand for greater recovery and preparation windows, broader interest in rebuilding the commercial appeal of international cricket through multilateral competitions, and the possibility of using those events to create additional Pakistan-India fixtures.
