England to tour India next year, BCCI official confirms
The Apex Council of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met yesterday via teleconference to discuss about England’s tour to India after the Indian Cricket team return from the Australia tour.
A BCCI official, who was in the meeting said that the board is aiming to create bio-secure bubbles in three to four venues for the England tour. The official also said that there are plans to host a pink ball Test match at either the newly-constructed stadium in Ahmedabad or the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The official told reporters, “The idea is to create bio-secure bubble across three to four venues as per permission from the government. The pink-ball Test will be held either in Ahmedabad or Kolkata. That call will be taken at the right time looking at the conditions.
“But yes, England is coming over to India.”
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The official also spoke about the quarantine period that the Indian team would have to undergo before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. “Looks like the quarantine phase will remain 14 days. The venues remain as it was and the itinerary has come in. We will be going directly from the UAE so the idea is to see if the quarantine period can be decreased. But as of now, doesn’t look like,” said the official.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had stated this morning that the BCCI are aiming to start to domestic Cricket competitions from the 1st day of the next year, something that was also a topic of discussion in the meeting. He said, “We have had extensive discussions on domestic cricket and we have tentatively decided to start the competitions from January 1, 2021.”
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Ganguly also gave a hint of a curtailed domestic season by saying the following, “We will certainly have the full-fledged Ranji Trophy red ball tournament. It will probably not be possible to hold all tournaments. We also have elaborate plans for our age group and women’s cricket. We will start with Ranji Trophy and then we will also have the other tournaments between March and April.”
Commenting on the same, the official had a similar statement to Ganguly as he said, “This is a dicey situation as we need to be cautious with so many teams and players involved. As of now, we are looking at a January start with the Ranji Trophy and women’s one-dayers being played. But we have to constantly monitor the situation before we get underway.”