KEY POINTS:
Two options have emerged in the juggling exercise aimed at having India play a third test against New Zealand on their tour in March.
New Zealand Cricket yesterday said talks with their Indian counterparts were continuing as they try to find a way to grant the Indians' wish for an extra test.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India wrote to NZC seeking a third test when they visit in March-April, after their tour of Pakistan was called off, leaving their senior players short of international cricket.
The schedule has India playing one Twenty20 international, five ODIs, a three-day match and two tests, starting on March 26 in Hamilton.
The third test cannot be added on to the end as players in both teams have commitments to the Indian Premier League, starting on April 10. The obvious alternative is to bring the start of the tour forward a week and play it then. But that is far from ideal. India are reluctant to do that as they would need to send their test squad out for one game, then their limited-overs players, before bringing the test players back again.
It also goes against protocols which call for the two forms of the game to have a distinct line between them within a single tour.
The other, more appealing option under consideration is believed to be dropping the three-day match at Lincoln from March 22-24. That was designed to give India's test squad a warm-up game before the first test.
Combined with massaging of a couple of ODI dates, that might help create a large enough window to fit in the test before those at Hamilton and Wellington.
But it is fiddly and involves many elements, ranging from flights, hotel bookings, ticketing and broadcasting issues.
NZC have said no decision will be made until early next week.