Indias home season: Kolkata, Delhi swap Tests against Windies and SA
New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI) Kolkata's Eden Gardens and Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium will swap their allocated Test matches against West Indies and South Africa respectively during India's upcoming home season, the BCCI announced on Monday.
While Delhi was set to host the opening Test against South Africa from November 14-18, it will now host the second Test against West Indies starting October 10.
Though the BCCI release doesn't state the reason for the venue swap, it is understood that air pollution levels in mid-November in the National Capital Region become a health hazard like it happened during a Test match against Sri Lanka few years back.
The Sri Lankan fielders were wearing masks and a few reportedly suffered from breathing problems.
It is understood that BCCI's Cricket Operations team collated the AQI data over the past few years and decided that venue swap is a viable option.
India's home season starts with two WTC Tests against West Indies, starting October 2 in Ahmedabad, followed by the Delhi Test.
India then play a full three format series against South Africa starting with two Tests, followed by three ODIs and five T20 Internationals across various Indian venues.
While Kolkata hosts the opening Test against the Proteas, Guwahati's Barsapara Stadium will become the latest Test venue as the second Test will be played from November 22 to 26.
The ODIs will be held at Ranchi (November 30), Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6). The five T20Is will be held at Cuttack (December 9), New Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17) and Ahmedabad (December 19).
Meanwhile Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has expressed its inability to host the women's ODI series against Australia starting September 14, which was supposed to serve as a pre-cursor to the 50-over World Cup starting September 30.
The first two matches of the series will now be played in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) and the third match in New Delhi.
Men's A series vs Australia and South Africa
===========================
The fringe players in Indian men's team set-up will have their hands full with BCCI hosting both Australia A and South Africa A for four 'unofficial Tests' and six List A games.
Both the touring sides will play two 'Tests' and three List A games each. Australia A series will happen in Lucknow and Kanpur while Bengaluru's COE will host the Proteas A team for the 'unofficial Tests'. Rajkot will host three ODIs.
Australia A Tests will be in Lucknow from September 16-19 and 23-26 giving chance to the Test specialists to get into groove for the West Indies games.
Ditto for SA A series, which will be a shadow tour before the main event.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
39 minutes ago
- News18
Viswanathan Anand Is Back! Will Play In World Rapid And Blitz Team Championship
Last Updated: Viswanathan Anand will compete in the World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championship. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will compete for the Freedom team, led by FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky, in the World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championship starting in Dusseldorf, Germany. Anand is the only Indian player on his team. The WR Chess team, considered the favourites, will be led by Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi on the top board, as the world's number one player, Magnus Carlsen, has withdrawn from the tournament. Arjun Erigaisi will play on the top board for his team, supported by P Harikrishna on the second board. They will represent the SG Alpine Warriors team. World junior champion V Pranav is a valuable addition to the SG Alpine Warriors, along with Luke Leon Mendonca, tipped as a future star of Indian chess, following the rise of world champion D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, and Aravindh Chithambaram. Nihal Sarin will also compete, representing the fifth-seeded Ashdod Elite Chess Club. Both Nihal and Anand will play as the top seeds on their respective boards, as will Arjun Erigaisi. However, the event will be without Carlsen and Gukesh, who have both opted out. The WR Chess team is the top contender for the title, boasting players like Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Wesley So. Each round must include a female player and a player rated below 2200 on the FIDE rating list as of 1 June, adding a compelling dynamic to the tournament. The event offers substantial prize money, with the winners of the rapid and blitz competitions receiving USD 110,000 and USD 75,000 respectively. The previous edition was highly successful, due in large part to Carlsen's participation. The prospects of the Indian team, SG Alpine Warriors, rest heavily on Arjun Erigaisi's performance. First Published: June 09, 2025, 20:59 IST
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Delhi, Kolkata swap Test matches as BCCI announces changes to India's home cricket season
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced multiple changes to the home international schedule, including for South Africa and West Indies' tours set to take place in October, November and December. While no official reason has been given for the changes, the announcement comes after concerns were raised about pollution levels in Delhi in November, when South Africa were scheduled to play a Test match there. Delhi will now play host to the second Test against the West Indies that is scheduled to start on October 14 while South Africa's first Test will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 14 to 18. Kolkata was initially scheduled to host the second West Indies Test. According to PTI, BCCI's Cricket Operations team collated the AQI data over the past few years and decided that venue swap is a viable option. While venues have been changed, the dates for the season remain the same. India's home season starts with two Tests against West Indies, starting October 2 in Ahmedabad, followed by the Delhi Test. They then play a full three format series against South Africa starting with two Tests, followed by three ODIs and five T20 Internationals across various Indian venues. While Kolkata hosts the opening Test, Guwahati's Barsapara Stadium will host a red ball international for the first time with the second match scheduled to be played there from November 22 to 26. The ODIs will be held at Ranchi (November 30), Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6). The five T20Is will be held at Cuttack (December 9), New Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17) and Ahmedabad (December 19). The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) had earlier expressed ts inability to host the women's ODI series against Australia starting September 14 at the Chepauk Stadium. The first two matches of will now be played in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) and the third match in New Delhi. The series serves as a pre-cursor to the 50-over World Cup which will be hosted by India starting September 30.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Monty Panesar speculates reason behind Virat Kohli's retirement ahead of England series: ‘He'll probably hasn't worked out solutions in that corridor of uncertainty'
As the Australian tour went on, Virat Kohli's dismissal started to become identical as he would flap at a delivery outside the off-stump around the fourth-fifth stump channel to edge it behind the stumps. However, it was not often he had these issues Down Under, but in English conditions, where he had issues regarding that line. Former England cricketer Monty Panesar speculated that it might be the reason why Kohli is not working out the solutions might be the probable cause of his retirement from the format. 'With Kohli, what has happened is that against the ball outside the off stump, the fifth stump line, especially in Australia on fast bouncy pitches, he was struggling,' Panesar said, speaking to PTI. 'So he probably thought maybe the fact that in England it is going to swing a lot more, he'll probably hasn't worked out solutions in that corridor of uncertainty.' 'And I think that's probably been one of the reasons why he thought to retire and put all his energy with RCB and ODI cricket for India,' Panesar observed. 'I think he's done very well as a cricketer in all formats. He has been a brilliant ambassador for Test cricket. He probably feels that he's done his best, he's achieved everything and probably feels like it's time for the youngsters to step up,' he added. Regardless of his issues, technically, Kohli managed to have a brilliant tour to England in 2018. 'It would be a lot tougher for Kohli to repeat the same performances of 2018. Just a simple fact that he's been struggling over the last 12 to 18 months with that ball outside off stump. He hasn't got a solution for that, you know the problem that he has on the fourth and fifth stump. 'So he's thinking it's better for Indian cricket to give youngsters a go and hopefully find the next superstar,' concluded Panesar.
