Cuttack: Here’s good news for the cricket lovers in Odisha. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to pick Barabati Stadium for the third Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) match between India and West Indies to be played on February 15 next year.
The BCCI has prepared the itineraries for four teams—New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia – that are likely to tour India from November 17, 2021, to June 19, 2022. In between, Virat Kohli and his men will also travel to South Africa in December-January.
While New Zealand will play three T20 matches and two Test matches, West Indies will play three One-Day matches and three T20 matches. Besides, Sri Lanka will play two Test matches and three T20 matches while South Africa will play five T20 matches.
The tour itineraries, which have been sent to the cricket boards of these four countries, is expected to get the final approval at the apex council meeting of the BCCI in Dubai on Monday.
“Since the West Indies are scheduled to play two different teams around the same time of the year on paper, we have to wait for the apex council meeting for more clarity on it,” said a senior official of Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), requesting anonymity.
Besides, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced in March that England will embark upon an expanded tour of the Caribbean from January to March 2022 to play three Tests and five T20Is. One of these tours has to be cancelled for the other to go through.
Kanpur and Mumbai are proposed as venues for the Test matches versus New Zealand while Bengaluru and Mohali are likely to be awarded Test matches against Sri Lanka in February-March 2022, a report published in Sportstar said.
It may be mentioned here that the last One-Day International match between India and West Indies was held at Barabati Stadium on December 22, 2019, in which India had won the match by four wickets.
Till December 22, 2019, the Barabati stadium had hosted 2 Tests, 19 ODI, 2 T20 and 7 IPL matches.
