India’s much-anticipated Day-Night Test against England will be held at Ahmedabad from February 24 next year and the city will also be the venue of one more Test and five T20 Internationals at its newly-constructed Motera Stadium. Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Jay Shah on Thursday said that the newly-built stadium will host five T20Is and a couple of Tests during England’s tour of India in 2021. After inaugurating an indoor academy at the newly constructed stadium, Shah put out a tweet saying that the stadium will be ‘ready to host #IndvsEng games in Feb-March, 2020’.
Motera, the largest cricket stadium in the world, boasts of state of the art facilities and a seating capacity of 110,000. It will host India’s second Day-Night Test match at home after the huge success of India’s first-ever pink-ball Test that was played in Kolkata last year.
The iconic Test will be followed by the 5-match T20I series, which will also be held in Ahmedabad.
The two other venues that have been allotted matches as per BCCI’s rotational policy are Chennai, which will host two Test matches, and Pune that will host the three ODIs during the February-March series.
“England team will not travel the length and breadth of the country in the prevailing situation (COVID-19 pandemic). There are only three cities where BCCI is creating a bio-bubble. Two Tests and five ODIs will be in Ahmedabad. The remaining two Tests will be in Chennai and three ODIs in Pune,” a senior BCCI source quoted by PTI on conditions of anonymity.
He then explained the rationale behind Pune and Chennai getting matches. “As per our rotational policy, Pune and Chennai were due to get matches long back. With this series, they would get a chance to host their pending games.
“Also after a lot of deliberation, BCCI’s operations team found that these are the three appropriate venues to create bio-secure environment for two teams,” the official said.
It is understood that a successful hosting of the England series would pave the way for a good and successful IPL at home after it had to be taken to UAE this year.
The last leg of the tour will feature ODIs and all three matches will be held in Pune. The BCCI has restricted the tour to just three venues keeping in mind the current pandemic situation prevailing in the country.
India vs England 2020 Full Schedule:
| England’s tour of India, 2020/21 – Test series | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 5th – 9th Feb | 1st Test | Chennai |
| 2 | 13th – 17th Feb | 2nd Test | Chennai |
| 3 | 24th – 28th Feb | 3rd Test (D/N) | Ahmedabad |
| 4 | 4th – 8th March | 4th Test | Ahmedabad |
| England’s tour of India, 2020/21 – T20I series | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 12th March | 1st T20I | Ahmedabad |
| 2 | 14th March | 2nd T20I | Ahmedabad |
| 3 | 16th March | 3rd T20I | Ahmedabad |
| 4 | 18th March | 4th T20I | Ahmedabad |
| 5 | 20th March | 5th T20I | Ahmedabad |
| England’s tour of India, 2020/21 – ODI series | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 23rd March | 1st ODI | Pune |
| 2 | 26th March | 2nd ODI | Pune |
| 3 | 28th March | 3rd ODI | Pune |