The schedule for India tour of Australia has been confirmed as the New South Wales state government gave a green signal to the quarantine period together which was knitted together with Cricket Australia. Sydney and Canberra are set to host the limited-overs series before the teams head for the traditional Border-Gavaskar series.
The confirmation of the quarantine schedule has been released by the NSW government but the Indian cricket board is still to give it a final sign-off. The tour will get underway with the first two ODIs on November 27 and 29 are set to be played at the SCG, the third ODI on December 1 and the first T20I on December 4 will take place at Canberra’s Manuka Oval, before the teams return to Sydney for the final two T20Is at the SCG on December 6 and 8.
India Australia Test series to start with Pink-Ball Test
According to a report in espncricinfo, the Test series will get underway in Adelaide with the Pink Ball match. The Adelaide Oval match will take place between December 17-21, with Adelaide also the backup option for the Boxing Day Test should the Covid-19 situation not allow it to be held at the MCG. Otherwise Melbourne will be the venue for Boxing Day (December 26-30) followed by Tests in Sydney (January 7-11) and finally Brisbane (January 15-19).
India’s tour Down Under is the most-anticipated series’ for Cricket Australia after the pandemic situation has hit the normal schedule. The board has made special arrangements for the series, including the bio-bubble, as the traditional four-Test series will help them to recover from the losses due to non-commencement of matches.
The hosting board has been hit by a major turmoil in the recent past, and it continues to worsen. The tussle between the cricket board and Channel 7 has taken another turn as reports suggest that a legal arbitration being pursued by the broadcaster owing to a ‘breach of contract’ by the board for ‘delivering a product not equal in quality to what was delivered the previous year’.
According to the original schedule, the first of four-match series between Australia and India will get underway from December 3 in the bio-bubble. The final Test will conclude on January 7, 2021 which will be followed with a three-match ODI series. Though an official schedule is yet to be announced.