In a bid to cut down the travel and the movement of the teams, officials, broadcasters and other stakeholders during the prevalent Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday decided to change the schedule for India’s upcoming home series against West Indies.
As per the revised schedule, the six white ball games scheduled for next month featuring three ODIs and as many T20Is, will now be held only in Ahmedabad and Kolkata.
Earlier, the six games were scheduled to be held between February 6 and 20 across six venues – Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Issuing a statement, the Indian board said: “The BCCI today announced a change in venues for the upcoming Paytm West Indies’ Tour of India. The West Indies will arrive here for a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is.”
“The three ODIs will now be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad and three T20Is will be held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The decision to limit the series to two venues instead of six as originally announced has been done to mitigate biosecurity risks by cutting down on travel and movement of the teams, match officials, broadcasters, and other stakeholders,” it added.
Earlier, the BCCI Tours and Fixtures Committee had reportedly recommended that the upcoming three-match One-Day International (ODI) series and the three-match T20I series against West Indies to be played in Ahmedabad and Kolkata.
Meanwhile, reports also suggest that West Indies Cricket don’t have any issues with the last-minute change in venues as the Windies Cricket board had alreay confirmed that they will be happy to accept any changes as long as the strict Covid protocols are followed as their priority is nothing but players’ safety.
“A request for such a change has not reached to me as yet. But we accept such operational actions by local boards in the interest of what is best for implementing health protocols,” CWI chief Ricky Skerritt was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
The Windies team is scheduled to arrive in Ahmedabad on February 1 following which they will undergo a three-day isolation period. The tourist will begin their practice sessions in the next two days before the matches begin.
Notably, Team India have a packed home schedule in the ongoing year with the focus on the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be staged in Australia later this year.
After the West Indies tour, India are slated to play a T20 series against Sri Lanka and South Africa at home.
Earlier in December 2021, the emergence of several Covid-19 positive cases in the West Indies camp in Karachi has led to the postponement of three-match ODI series between Windies and hosts Pakistan.
The two boards – Pakistan Cricket board (PCB) and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) – had then jointly decided to push the ODI series to June 2022.
Revised schedule (India vs West Indies):
February 6 – 1st ODI – Ahmedabad
February 9 – 2nd ODI – Ahmedabad
February 11 – 3rd ODI – Ahmedabad
February 16 – 1st T20I – Kolkata
February 18 – 2nd T20I – Kolkata
February 20 – 3rd T20I – Kolkata