BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said on Tuesday England will be playing an extended series — comprising four Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is — starting from February next year.
“England is touring India for four Test matches, three ODIs, and five T20Is, it is easy to have bilaterals as there are just two teams, we have to keep assessing the situation, a lot of people are talking about the second COVID wave, we have to be careful,” said Ganguly during a virtual press conference.
It had been previously announced that England will tour India for a series early next year, but this is the first time details have been divulged about the series. The entire series itinerary is yet to be announced.
The series will be preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup which is set to be played in India in October-November.
Ganguly also spoke about the next Indian Premier League season, stating that the board is trying to organize it in the country itself. “We are trying to have the next IPL in India, it’s a tournament for India, I always tell people that they need to be here to see what IPL means to India,” said Ganguly.
‘Boys are ready in Australia’
The Board President also talked about the much-hyped tour of Australia by the national team, which completed its quarantine period on Tuesday in Sydney.
India start their tour of Australia with the first ODI on November 27 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“…the players are fit and fine, Australia also doesn’t have a very high number of COVID cases, the borders were closed for a while…they are still very, very tight on international travel, you have to do 14 days of hard quarantine, so the boys are ready to get onto the field,” the BCCI chief said.
Ganguly said he is immensely proud of his BCCI team for pulling off a successful IPL, which he hopes, would be back in India for its next edition. The event was shifted to UAE this year because of the raging pandemic.
“We had about 400 people staying in the bio-bubble, 30-40 thousand tests have happened over a period of two and half months to make sure that everyone is safe and healthy,” he said.
“…it’s a tournament for India. People spoke about the success of IPL, I told all of them that you must, you have to be in India to see what IPL is to India,” he said.
