The England Cricket Team would be the first team to tour India after the outbreak of Covid-19. The series starts on the 5th of February 2021. The series between India and England marks the return of international cricket to India after one long year due to the pandemic.
England’s tour of India is going to be two months long. In this 2 month-long tour, 3 ODI Matches, 4 Tests, and 5 T20s are going to be played. According to the sources, the teams are going to be kept in a bio-bubble. It is not yet clear if audiences will be allowed in the stadium but they can always engage in cricket betting sites in India to have fun and earn money too. India vs. England is going to start with a 4-Test rubber and this will be followed by T20s and ODIs.
How Important is India – England Series
The Test series between England and India is going to be a part of the ICC World Test Championship and the finals for the WTC is going to be played on 1st June 2021 at Lords. The top 2 teams on the table for ICC WTC Points are going to qualify for the finals.
In the meantime, the 3-match ODI series will be a part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League which will determine the teams for the ICC ODI World CUP 2023 that is going to take place in India. The teams that are in the top 7 positions on the league table are going to qualify directly for the World Cup and the remaining teams will play for the qualifier.
The Venues for the India and England Series
The venues that have been selected for the series are:
- Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium called the Chepauk Stadium
- Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
- Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel Stadium called Motera Stadium
Schedule of India vs England series
First Test: 5-9 Feb
Second Test: 13-17 Feb
Third Test: 24-28 Feb
Fourth Test: 4-8 March
1st T20 International: 12 March
2nd T20 International: 14 March
3rd T20 International: 16 March
4th T20 International: 18 March
5th T20 International: 20 March
1st ODI: 23 March
2ndODI: 26 March
3rd ODI: 28 March
The first and second test matches are going to be played at Chennai. The remaining two test matches between India and England are going to be played at the newly built stadium named Sardar Patel Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.
With a seating capacity of 1.1 Lakh spectators, Motera is the largest cricket stadium worldwide having all the modern ground facilities. India will play their Day-Night test match against England at Motera stadium from 24th to 28th February. It is going to be India’s second pink ball test match after the tremendous success of India’s first-ever pink ball test match at Eden Gardens last year.
After the test series, India and England will play 5 match T20 International games. All the 5 T20 cricket matches will be played at Ahmedabad from 12 March to 20 March. The last part of the series will be the 3 ODI matches and all of them will be played at Pune Cricket Stadium. The 3 ODI matches will last from 23 March to 28 March.
Reasons Pune and Chennai have been Chosen for India and England Series’ Venues
According to the rotational policy of BCCI, Chennai and Pune were due to get matches for a long time. Due to this series, they are going to get a chance to host their pending games.
Moreover, after long deliberation, the operations team of BCCI found that these are the three best venues for creating a bio-secure environment for the two teams.
Motera Stadium at Ahmedabad that is newly built is going to host 7 out of 12 matches. But all the matches are going to be played only in the 3 venues.
What About the England Cricket Team Undergoing Quarantine?
As the England team is going to travel from one bio-bubble to the other, they are going to be allowed to train during their 7-day long soft quarantine in Chennai.
No practice sessions have been scheduled yet. As England has already played 2 Tests in Sri Lanka, it isn’t going to require a warm-up game after they reach Chennai.
The falling number of COVID-19 cases in India might cause BCCI to allow audiences in the stadiums. However, they will only take a decision after consulting the government of India. So, as of now, no tickets are available for the Indian and England series. The Indian team is likely to be given a 7-days break after they get back from Australia. Also, they are going to undergo RT-PCR tests prior to entering the bio-bubble in Chennai. However, the announcement for the teams for both India and Australia are still awaited.
