The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the
dates and venues for the upcoming home series against England that
consists of five Tests, three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three
Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). The first of the five-Test series will
kick-off in Rajkot on November 9, 2016.
As had been the norm
during the 2012 series between these two teams, England will play the
Test matches first before returning home. They will make their way back
to the subcontinent in January 2017 to complete the ODI and T20I leg of
the tour.
The BCCI had previously announced six new Test venues
(Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Pune) to be used
from this calendar year (2016-17) with Indore set to host the visiting
New Zealand team in October. Rajkot and Visakhapatnam now follow the
trend, hosting the first two Tests against England, before the series
moves on to the traditional venues in Mohali, Mumbai and Chennai.
The tourists then go home for a Christmas and New Year break before returning to India to complete the remainder of the tour.
The
tour will resume with the first ODI in Pune on January 15, 2017.
Cuttack and Kolkata will complete the ODI leg while Kanpur, Nagpur and
Bengaluru are scheduled to host the T20Is.
Indian captain Virat
Kohli welcomed the announcement and said he was looking forward to an
exciting contest. "This is going to be a competitive series. Both sides
like to play hard fought cricket. England is one of the better sides in
the world. So we can expect some high quality cricket even though we are
playing at home. I urge fans from both the countries to come and
support Test cricket," Kohli said, in a video message from West Indies,
which was subsequently posted by the BCCI on its twitter page.
Coach
Anil Kumble, who never featured in a five-match Test series at home
during his playing days, also welcomed the development. "I am happy to
announce the schedule of India-England series. I have been involved in
many Tests against England as a player but this is the first time that I
will be involved in a 5-Test series as a coach. I am really looking
forward to this contest," Kumble said.
This will be the
first time since the 1986-87 series against Pakistan, that India will be
hosting a visiting team for five Tests in a series. India have never
beaten England in a Test series since the 2008-09 home series where
Sachin Tendulkar inspired a stunning 387-run chase in Chennai.
Speaking
to the press after England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released the
itinerary, Andrew Strauss, Director of England cricket, hoped that
Alastair Cook's men would go on and achieve success similar to what they
managed in 2012, when they famously beat India by a 2-1 margin.
"This
promises to be a historic Test series the first five-Test rubber
England have played in India since 1984-85 and a great opportunity for
Cook and his players to repeat the memorable Test series win we enjoyed
on our last trip to India in 2012," Strauss said.
"Equally, Eoin
Morgan's white-ball squad will be anticipating hard-fought and
competitive encounters against high-quality opposition in both formats
with the one-day series providing excellent preparation for the ICC
Champions Trophy to come at home later in the summer of 2017," the
former England captain added.
Full itinerary
Tests
1st Test, November 9-13, Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
2nd Test, November 17-21, ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam
3rd Test, November 26-30, IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
4th Test, December 8-12, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
5th Test, December 16-20, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
One Day Internationals
1st ODI, January 15th (D/N), Maharashtra Cricket Association's International Stadium, Pune
2nd ODI, January 19th (D/N), Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
3rd ODI, January 22nd (D/N), Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Twenty20 Internationals
1st T20I, January 26th, Green Park, Kanpur
2nd T20I, January 29th, Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
3rd T20I, February 1st, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

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