Kolkata: India are scheduled to host ODIs and T20s against South Africa as well as T20 matches against New Zealand as per the revised Future Tours Programme (FTP) post-covid ahead of ICC world T20 in 2021.
“CAB was expecting a match against England, especially since the last ODI match which was scheduled to be played at Kolkata got cancelled,” CAB President Avishek Dalmiya said.
“In this context, I did have a word with the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and enquired if Kolkata could be accommodated. To which Ganguly informed that these are unprecedented times and that BCCI had to settle with a maximum of three venues this time due to ongoing pandemic,” he further added.
“However, Ganguly assured me that CAB would get a turn in the next home series”, said Dalmiya. The BCCI along with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Thursday (December 10) announced the fixtures for Team India’s home series against England.
The much-awaited marquee series will kickstart with a four-match Test series for Anthony de Mello Trophy, the first of which will be played in Chennai from February 5. Chennai will also host the second Test while the newly built Sardar Patel Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the remaining two Test matches.
Motera, the largest cricket stadium in the world, boasts of state of the art facilities and a seating capacity of 110,000. It will host India’s second Day/Night Test match at home after the huge success of India’s first-ever pink-ball Test that was played in Kolkata last year.
Ahmedabad is expected to turn pink when it hosts the third Test on February 24 under lights. The iconic Test will be followed by the five-match T20I series, which will also be held in Ahmedabad.
The last leg of the tour will feature ODIs and all three matches will be held in Pune. The BCCI has restricted the tour to just three venues due to the current pandemic situation prevailing in the country.
