 | « Back to article | Print this article |
After the World Cup cold shoulder, Kolkata's historic Eden Gardens is back in the reckoning as it will host as many as three international games during the two home series against England and the West Indies later this year.
As per the itinerary decided by BCCI at a meeting of its Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee in Mumbai on Saturday, Kolkata will host two matches -- an ODI and the lone Twenty20 International -- during the England series scheduled for October.
Apart from Kolkata, Mumbai, Mohali, Hyderabad and Delhi are the other four venues for the ODIs against England.
According to a statement released by BCCI secretary and president-elect N Srinivasan, Kolkata will also host a Test match during the home series against the West Indies to begin in November.
Mumbai and Delhi will host the other two Tests in the three-match series against the Caribbean side, the release said.
The BCCI, however, said that the exact schedule of the five ODIs against the Caribbean side will be announced later.
Although the BCCI did not announce the exact dates of both the series, according to sources the five-match ODI series against England will begin on October 13 in Kolkata, followed by Mumbai (October 16), Mohali (October 19), Hyderabad (October 22) and Delhi (October 26), while the lone T20 match will be held on October 28.
The sources added that Delhi's Feroze Shah Kotla ground will host the first Test against the West Indies from November 6-10, followed by the second Test in Kolkata (November 14-18) and Mumbai (November 22-26).
Incidentally, Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, Delhi's Feroze Shah Kotla gound had declined to host a Test match during earlier seasons due to the extensive renovation work in the lead up to the World Cup.
The match against the West Indies will also mark the return of Test cricket to Wankhede after a hiatus of four years. The stadium last hosted a Test match way back in 2006 against England.