Mumbai : The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday announced that Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Pune, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Indore will host Test matches for the first time in the 2016-17 season in which India will play 13 Tests, eight ODIs and three T20I.
The tour programme and fixtures committee of the BCCI met here earlier today to finalise the schedules for International and domestic cricket season of 2016-17.
“I welcome the new Test venues hosting this prestigious format of cricket and their arrival will take Test match cricket, to every corner of the country,” said BCCI President Anurag Thakur.
“We are equally excited about the domestic season as we will be playing the Duleep trophy with the pink ball under lights and take this opportunity to welcome Chhattisgarh, who will play Ranji trophy for the first time. A combined team of Affiliate & Associate states will participate in the junior age group tournaments, which will provide the much needed opportunity to the emerging players from these areas. This further reaffirms our commitment to spread the game by providing the appropriate platforms to our next generation cricketer,” he said.
The home season will start with three Tests and five ODIs against New Zealand followed by five Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is against England. Australia will visit India in February-March 2017 to play four Test matches and Bangladesh is slated to play a one off Test match in India.
The three-match Test series against New Zealand will be played at Indore, Kanpur and Kolkata, while Dharamsala, Delhi, Mohali, Ranchi and Vizag will host the five ODIs against the Kiwis.
The five-Test series against England will be played at Mohali, Rajkot, Mumbai, Vizag and Chennai, while the three-match ODI series will be played in Pune, Cuttack and Kolkata.
Bengaluru, Nagpur and Kanpur will hold the three T20Is against England.
Australia will tour India in February to play four Test matches hosted by Bengaluru, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Pune, while the stand alone Test match against Bangladesh will be played at Hyderabad.
All these venues will get matches subject to the condition that they have numbered the seats in the stadiums and fulfill all the guidelines laid down by the BCCI.
Meanwhile, India Cricket’s domestic season will kick off in the month of September where in for the first time ever, Duleep Trophy will be played under lights and with a Pink Ball. During the entire season, 918 matches will be organized that includes Ranji trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Irani Trophy, Women’s cricket and all other age group cricket. (ANI)