Pic Courtesy: Xtratime
Kolkata: The BCCI today decided that the Sri Lanka tour of India during November-December would be held at Kolkata, Nagpur and Delhi, while a T20 game against Australia in October would be held in the newly constructed stadium Barasapara in Guwahati. The above decision was taken during the Board’s tours and fixtures committee meeting. The Eden Gardens has been awarded two matches, one ODI another Test match, both to be played against the Aussies.
The upcoming home season will be huge for the hosts as they are scheduled to play 23 International matches in three series, from September to December.
“Dates of the matches deliberately not frozen today because of the logistics. Local factors such festivals, like Durga Puja being what it is in the whole of eastern India and not only West Bengal and other public holidays. The logistics of distances,” acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told media today.
The season starts mid September with five ODIs against Australia and will be played at Chennai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Indore and Kolkata while the three T20 matches will be held in Hyderabad, Ranchi and Guwahati.
The second ODI will be played at the Eden Gardens on 21st September.
The series against New Zealand will commence mid October and the three ODIs will be held in Pune, Mumbai and Kanpur followed by three T20 Internationals at Delhi, Cuttack and Rajkot.
The final stretch of the international season at home will commence on 16th November with Kolkata hosting the first Test against Sri Lanka.
The second Test will be held in Nagpur, which will be making a comeback after ICC suspension for poor pitch while the final Test will be held in Delhi.
The three ODIs against Sri Lanka will be held in Dharamsala, Mohali and Vizag while the three T20 Internationals will be held in Kochi or the newly-accredited Thiruvanantpuram, Indore and Mumbai.
Asked about the Sri Lanka tour being advanced, Choudhary said: “That tweaking had to happen because Sri Lanka is organising an Independence Cup in Sri Lanka, shortly after India’s return from South Africa in March.”
The acting secretary also reminded about how Sri Lanka has stood by India at all global platforms.
“Sri Lanka has always co-operated with India and therefore India will be making a reciprocal short version only to play the Independence Cup. That’s why the tweaking has taken place,” he said.
“Another reason being there are six proposed exchange of tours between India and Pakistan, which did not happen so those spaces had to be adjusted.”
“The Eden Gardens Test match against Sri Lanka is on November 16,” informed CAB president Sourav Ganguly adding that the ODI against Australia will be held on September.
“It’s a Durga Puja gift for the people of West Bengal,” said Ganguly.
The Schedule:
Australia Series
ODIs (5): Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Indore, Kolkata
T20 Internationals (3): Hyderabad, Ranchi, Guwahati (Barsapara)
New Zealand Series
ODIs (3): Pune, Mumbai, Kanpur
T20 Internationals (3): Delhi, Cuttack, Rajkot