After IPL, Vaibhav Suryavanshi will roar in 'Red Ball' cricket, Laxman will groom 64 young cricketers, COE made a special roadmap.

New Delhi. After losing five Test matches at home against New Zealand and South Africa in 2024 and 2025, the BCCI's 'Centre of Excellence' has prepared a new plan under the leadership of VVS Laxman. Under which young players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre will play four-day red ball matches in the inter-COE tournament to be held in June-July. This inter-COE tournament aims to identify 64 top young cricketers under the age of 25 and strengthen India's red ball talent for the next decade.

It is understood that all coaches associated with the CoA and national selectors (Senior, Pathways – India A, India Under-23) and age-groups (Under-19, Under-16) have been clearly informed. Their main focus over the next one year, with most of the high performance camp being held in Bengaluru, will be to get the red ball talent pool in the right direction to meet the needs of the near and distant future.

A BCCI source said on the condition of confidentiality, 'Only Under-25 players will be included in the India Emerging Team and they will also be a part of the India A team for the 'Shadow Tour'. This roadmap will be prepared by giving complete information to senior selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir. After the end of the IPL, both India Under-19 and Emerging (Under-25) teams will tour Sri Lanka for a four-day match. The team will be selected on the basis of the performance of the players in the inter-CoE tournament.

The plan is that 64 cricketers will be selected who will then be divided into four teams of 16 players each. Each team will get the opportunity to play two four-day red-ball matches at the CoE and will be provided with a variety of pitches to give them proper match practice. Of these, 25 cricketers will be selected by the junior selection committee while the other 25 cricketers will be selected by the senior committee.

Apart from these 50 cricketers, there will be 14 other players who are part of IPL. These include some names like Mhatre, Suryavanshi and Sameer Rizvi. If all these players remain fit and available, then with their inclusion this list of 64 players will be completed.