In order to provide more exposure for India’s fringe players, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to organize a quadrangular tournament in late July, involving Australia ‘A’ and South Africa ‘A’.

Both the visiting teams will play against India ‘A’ and India ‘B’, which will be the fourth team comprised of additional reserve players.

As per the reports in The Indian Express, the BCCI has similar plans for India Under-19 team in September. India will host Afghanistan U-19 and Nepal U-19 teams in a quadrangular series as preparation for the forthcoming Youth Asia Cup. The matches are likely to be held in Kolkata.

Reports also suggest that the idea to have more games for India ‘A’ and India U-19 players had come from Rahul Dravid, who is currently in England with the ‘A’ side as a coach. The Shreyas Iyer led India ‘A’ side are presently involved in a tri-series featuring England Lions and West Indies ‘A’.

“There is no tournament for India A once the England tour is over. So Dravid had requested us to have more series for them in order for there to be a continuity,” sources in the BCCI told The Indian Express.

“The reason we are having two teams, India A and B, is so that more fringe players get an opportunity against decent teams. Similar is the case with under 19. The board was keen to give more practice games before the core group for India under 19, World Cup can be formalised. The BCCI will have more kind of series in coming years,” he added.

Besides the quadrangular tournament, South Africa ‘A’ and Australia ‘A’ are also scheduled to play two four day games against India ‘A’ in Bangalore and Vizag respectively.