Ahmedabad, Kolkata likely to host India vs West Indies series

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the BCCI is likely to host the limited overs series against the West Indies across two venues - Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

Published : Jan 19, 2022 22:49 IST , Mumbai

File picture of Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
File picture of Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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File picture of Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to host the limited overs series against the West Indies across two venues - Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

Sportstar understands that while Ahmedabad is likely to host all the three ODIs, the iconic Eden Gardens is expected to host the three-match T20I series. Earlier, the Board had decided to host the series across six venues - the ODIs in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata and T20Is in Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram - but after discussions, the BCCI office-bearers decided to tweak the schedule and restrict the entire series to just two venues in a bid to avoid travel and maintain a strict bio-bubble.

READ: South Africa beat India by 31 runs at Paarl

There is also a possibility that the schedule of the T20I series maybe tweaked a bit. As per the original plan, the T20Is were scheduled to be played on February 15, 18 and 20, but now, it is understood that the T20I series will begin on February 16. The other two games, however, will go ahead as scheduled.

Earlier, several reports suggested that the BCCI was looking at Ahmedabad and Lucknow as venues, but with Uttar Pradesh heading to assembly elections, the Tours and Fixtures committee decided to go ahead with Kolkata as the alternative.

The West Indies team is scheduled to reach Ahmedabad on February 1 and then undergo a mandatory isolation till February 3. While two training sessions are scheduled on February 4 and 5, the first game - which will be India’s 1000th men’s ODI - is to be played on February 6.

With the cases spiking in several cities, a section of Board officials were of the opinion that if the ‘series is to go ahead’ as per schedule, then “it would be better to host” all the games at one, or at the most, two venues in a bid to avoid air travel and keep the bubble intact.

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