Dilip Vengsarkar isn't mincing words. The former India captain has openly questioned the logic of sending a shadow team overseas while the country's premier domestic championship is in full swing. It’s a scheduling headache that has left the cricketing fraternity scratching their heads, with the 116-Test veteran calling the overlap "beyond me."
The India A squad, led by wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, is a 15-member unit heading to Lincoln and Christchurch for three four-day matches between Oct 24 and Nov 7. This trip is meant to be a warm-up for India’s main two-Test series in New Zealand. But here is the rub: most of these players are likely to play only the opening round of the Ranji Trophy before jets off to the Southern Hemisphere.
"Why do you have an India A tour when the Ranji Trophy season is in progress? What’s the point of holding the Ranji Trophy then?" Vengsarkar asked TOI. He argued that if your best domestic players are playing for India A during the season, the performances of the remaining batters and bowlers in the Ranji Trophy get devalued. It dilutes the importance of the domestic game, which is the lifeblood of Indian cricket.
This isn't the first time the calendar has looked messy. The Irani Cup between 2025-26 champions Jammu & Kashmir and Rest of India also lost some sheen earlier this season as India A played Australia A in Puducherry. The BCCI introduced these shadow tours to help fringe players acclimatise to overseas conditions. But Vengsarkar dismisses the rationale: "If you want your players to acclimatise early... then send your main team early. There’s no point sending players who are not even going to play in the Test series."
The BCCI faces a tough balancing act as the 2026-27 domestic season kicks off, with the India A tour effectively hijacking the early weeks of the Ranji Trophy.