India’s Upcoming Home Cricket Season: Schedule and Venue Changes

Venue Swap for Test Matches

Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium have swapped their Test matches. Delhi will now host the second Test against West Indies starting on October 10.

Why the Change?

The BCCI did not state the reason for the venue swap. However, it is likely due to air pollution levels in mid-November in Delhi. This pollution can become a health hazard, as seen during a Test match against Sri Lanka a few years ago.

During that match, Sri Lankan fielders wore masks. Some even had breathing problems. The BCCI’s Cricket Operations team looked at AQI data from past years. They decided that swapping venues was a good option.

India’s Home Season Schedule

India’s home season starts with two World Test Championship (WTC) Tests against West Indies:

• First Test: October 2 in Ahmedabad
• Second Test: October 10 in Delhi

After that, India will play a full series against South Africa. This series includes:

• Two Tests
• Three One Day Internationals (ODIs)
• Five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is)

Test Matches Against South Africa

Kolkata will host the opening Test against South Africa. Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium will host the second Test from November 22 to 26.

ODIs and T20Is

The ODIs will be held at:

• Ranchi (November 30)
• Raipur (December 3)
• Visakhapatnam (December 6)

The T20Is will be held at:

• Cuttack (December 9)
• New Chandigarh (December 11)
• Dharamsala (December 14)
• Lucknow (December 17)
• Ahmedabad (December 19)

Women’s ODI Series Against Australia

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) cannot host the women’s ODI series against Australia. This series was supposed to start on September 14. It was going to be a warm-up for the 50-over World Cup starting on September 30.

The first two matches will now be played in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh). The third match will be in New Delhi.

Men’s A Series Against Australia and South Africa

India’s fringe players will have a busy schedule. The BCCI is hosting both Australia A and South Africa A for:

• Four ‘unofficial Tests’
• Six List A games

Both touring sides will play two ‘Tests’ and three List A games each. The Australia A series will be in Lucknow and Kanpur. Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence will host the South Africa A team for the ‘unofficial Tests’. Rajkot will host three ODIs.

The Australia A Tests will be in Lucknow from September 16-19 and September 23-26. This will give Test specialists a chance to prepare for the West Indies games.

The South Africa A series will be a shadow tour before the main event.