When Pat Cummins’ Australia visits India for the high-profile Border-Gavaskar four-match series in February-March next year, Delhi will host a Test match for the first time in more than five years.
New Delhi: In February-March of next year, Pat Cummins’ Australia will visit India for the high-profile Border-Gavaskar four-match series, marking the first time Delhi will host a Test match in more than five years. Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, and Chennai are three other likely locations for the remaining Tests.
The series will be crucial because it will be India’s final four games in the second World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. India may have to defeat Australia 4-0 to qualify for the summit showdown, which could be a Herculean job for Rohit Sharma’s team.
The series is typically played over four Tests but will be played over five matches during the next ICC Future Tours & Programme (FTP), which begins in 2024.
According to the BCCI’s rotation methodology, Delhi, which missed out during the two-year COVID-19 epidemic, is set to receive one of the Test matches. In December 2017, the city hosted a Test against Sri Lanka.
“As of present, Delhi is expected to host the second of four Test matches. The dates will be released as soon as the Tours and Fixtures committee meets. Dharamsala, which hosted its first and only Test against Australia in March 2017, will most likely host the third Test,” One BCCI official said.
It is expected that Australia will begin the series in Chennai or Hyderabad, given Bengaluru hosted a Test match against Sri Lanka earlier this year. That was a night/day test.
The series finale is anticipated at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. The decision on which of the four Tests would be played during the day or at night has yet to be made. The BCCI has held three pink-ball Tests, the first against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, the second against England at Motera, and the third against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.
The BCCI has hosted eight Test matches since the COVID-19 hiatus, including four against England in 2021 (Chennai and Ahmedabad), two against New Zealand (Kanpur and Mumbai), and two against Sri Lanka (Chandigarh and Bengaluru).
