Since the start of 2020, Team India’s tour of Australia has been the most talking point in cricket. Even during the pandemic, the former and current players of the two countries had passed several comments about the rivalry. But finally, after passing all the hurdles in the way, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA), on Wednesday, have released the schedule of the series across all the formats.
Team India will enter Australia via Sydney and will follow a 14-days quarantine while will also be allowed to train during that period. Indian Team is expected to leave Dubai soon after the completion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on November 10.
“India’s squad will arrive in Sydney on November 12 subject to Australian Border Force travel authorisation and the appropriate departure-approvals. The team will quarantine in Sydney prior to the first match of the series on November 27,” said a Cricket Australia media release.
The tour will start with the three-match ODI series followed by three-match T20I series. The first two ODI will be hosted at Sydney Cricket Ground on November 27 and 29 respectively. The final match of the series will be played at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on December 2.
The T20I series, comprising of three-matches, will kick start in Canberra on December 4 with the last two matches being played in Sydney on Dec 6 and 8 respectively.
And then finally, the most anticipated series, the Border-Gavaskar trophy, will mark the end of the tour. The four-match Test series will start with the Pink Ball Day/Night Test match at Adelaide from December 17. The touring nation will also get two warm-up four-day matches, including a day-night Test match, before the start of the Test series. But the practice matches are also collapsing with the last two T20I matches.
The second Test match will be played in Melbourne Cricket Ground from Dec 26. Initially, because of the rise of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne, the traditional venue was being considered to be excluded. But now, the decline in cases has given the path to Cricket Australia to host the Boxing Day Test at MCG. Moreover, CA’s Interim CEO Nick Hockley has informed that talks are going on with the Victorian State government to allow the spectators.
The third and fourth Test matches will be held in Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7) and Gabba (January 15).
Team India tour of Australia 2020-21 full schedule
ODIs:
1st ODI: Friday, Nov 27: SCG (D/N)
2nd ODI: Sunday, Nov 29: SCG (D/N)
3rd ODI: Wednesday, Dec 2: Canberra (D/N)
T20I
1st T20: Friday, Dec 4: Canberra (Night)
2nd T20: Sunday, Dec 6 – SCG (Night)
3rd T20: Tuesday, Dec 8 – SCG (Night)
Practice match: Dec 6-8- Drummoyne Oval, Sydney
Practice match: Dec 11-13- Sydney Cricket Ground (D/N)
Test Series
1st Test: Dec 17-21 – Adelaide (Day/Night)
2nd Test: Dec 26-30 – Melbourne
3rd Test: Jan 7-11 – Sydney
4th Test: Jan 15-19 – Brisbane.