The National Capital Delhi has already gone from bad to worse in terms of pollution and smog levels. Everything started to get heated up ever since the Sri Lankan players wore masks to get rid of toxic air and to protect their health.
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Things got even nastier when few of the Sri Lankan players vomited during the match owing to the hazardous conditions in Delhi. The smog was so severe that the Lankans started complaining to the umpires that they could not withstand. We also witnessed a forced declaration from Virat Kohli.
According to a senior BCCI official who quoted as saying by PTI, he said that with the Future Tour Programmes are coming, there is no chance for Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium to be in contention to get any international ties before 2020.
BCCI has stuck to its rotational policy as the official said that Kotla has got its Test as well as ODI status which means that we might not get to see Kotla hosting the match next year or the next couple of years as the full-fledged series would beckon for India.
“BCCI is pitching for their exclusive home season slot in February-March every year. They will only get that slot in February-March 2020 as per the new Future Tours Programme [FTP].
Therefore, Kotla may or may not be in line for a Test match before 2020. As per the rotation policy, Kotla has now got its Test match and in November it got an ODI. Their turn will not come next year as India will perhaps have at the most one full-fledged series.”
He further added that it will take time for Kotla stadium to get the game because there are other venues in line wanting to get a match at their city with excellent drainage facility availability. The official also went on to add saying that one can’t predict the environmental condition for the next couple of years right now.
“There are other venues waiting for their turn. Similarly in 2019, when the fresh Future Tours and Programme [FTP] starts, it will take some time for Kotla to get another game. Now what will be the environmental condition in 2020 can’t be predicted in 2017. So if Kotla doesn’t get a match, it will be purely because of rotation,” he added.
