Inzamam-ul-Haq considers current Indian team better than 90s-2000s Australia; here's why

Team India, led by Virat Kohli, will soon leave for England to play World Test Championship as well as the India vs England five-match Test series. The India vs New Zealand match is scheduled to be played at the Ageas Rose Bowl in Southampton between June 18-22. After the India vs New Zealand match, the team will have a gap before facing England. The India vs England series will begin at Nottingham (Aug 4-8) and will be followed by matches at Lord's (August 12-16), Leeds (Aug 25-29), Oval (Sep 2-6), and Manchester (Sep 10-14). 

However, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the regular members of team will not be able to travel to Sri Lanka in July to play ODIs and T20Is. In order to make up for the loss, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently decided to send a white-ball specialist team to Sri Lanka. A source related to the board confirmed to Republic World that former India skipper Rahul Dravid will be in charge of the team. 

The move by BCCI to send two separate teams has been appreciated by former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. The former cricketer said that Team India has managed to achieve something that even the Australian cricket team from the 90s and 2000s could not do, referring to Team India's bench strength.

Inzamam-ul-Haq praises BCCI for 2-team concept

While speaking on his personal YouTube channel, ‘Inzamam ul Haq – The Match Winner’, the 51-year-old stated that the idea of assembling a second Indian team is very interesting and the concept which India are trying to do today, was being tried by Australia years ago but did not work for international cricket as such.

Inzamam in his video, also spoke about how Australia failed to make two international teams and why the BCCI sending a white-ball specialist team to Sri Lanka makes sense. The former Pakistan captain was quoted as saying, “When Australia were at their peak from 1995 to say 2005-2010, they had tried to distinguish two international teams named Australia A and Australia B, but they didn’t get permission. India are doing what even Australia couldn’t do in their peak. And the move makes sense given the isolation protocols and everything, and it couldn’t have been possible to send the same team to both countries in such a gap.”

With the senior side in England, the tour of Sri Lanka provides youngsters a chance to not only showcase their talent but also stake a claim for a place in the Indian team. Inzamam, in his video, not only praised the first-class cricket structure of India but also the IPL for developing talents and creating enough pool of players.

"India at this time have so much strength that they are capable of doing this. Their pool of players is so huge that they are able to manage this. If you look at the players who would be travelling to Sri Lanka, it would appear as if this is India’s main team, such is their bench strength. The country have improved their first-class structure and then there is the IPL as well that has helped assemble two different teams at the same time. It’s almost as if India have prepared 50 guys who are ready to play for the national team.”

India cricket schedule 2021: Sourav Ganguly calls for special AGM to discuss ICC T20 World Cup

After the postponement of the IPL 2021 due to the COVID-19 issue inside the bubble, the future of T20 World Cup to be held in India hangs in the balance. The Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI has called for a Special General Meeting (SGM) on May 29, just two days ahead of the ICC meeting. The SGM that will be conducted virtually will see discussions around hosting the T20 World Cup in India amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and what all measures need to be taken with an eye on the marquee event which is slated to be held in India in October-November.

Image: BCCI/Pakistan Cricket/Twitter