After conquering Down Under, the Indian Cricket Team is set to host the England team for a full tour of almost two months, across the three formats. After playing two away Test series in New Zealand and Australia, Team India will be playing a home Test series after a gap of one year, after November 2019.
The four-match series is very important both for India and the England team as far as the World Test Championship (WTC) is concerned. India, who are currently at the top of the table, would want to maintain their pole position, while England's only chance of qualifying for the final will be if they will all the four Test matches. England are currently playing a two-match series against Sri Lanka, of which they won the first Test riding on skipper Joe Root's superlative form.
Not just the four Tests, the two teams will also be involved in 3-match ODI and five-match T20I series, which becomes crucial considering the ICC T20 World Cup will be held in India only, later this year.
The first two matches will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Both the games will be played behind closed doors, three round of COVID testing will take place in the lead up to the game and no outsiders will be allowed in the team hotels, amidst strict protocols for the matches.
Fixtures
Tests
First: February 5-9, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 09:30 AM IST
Second: February 13-17, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 09: 30 AM IST
Third: February 24-28, Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, 02:30 PM IST [D/N Test]
Fourth: March 04-08, Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, 09:30 AM IST
T20Is - Ahmedabad (all starting at 7 PM IST)
First - March 12
Second - March 14
Third - March 16
Fourth - March 18
Fifth - March 20
ODIs - Pune (all starting 1.30 PM IST)
First - March 23
Second - March 26
Third - March 28
Squads
While India announced 18-men squad, marking comebacks of regular skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and fast bowler Ishant Sharma; England announced a 16-men squad which marks the return of batsmen Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, all-rounder Ben Stokes and ace pacer Jofra Archer.
India (For first two Tests): Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (WK), Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur
England (For first two Tests): Joe Root (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (WK), Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns.
Where will the series be telecast?
India's home series and matches will be broadcast on Star Sports network and will live stream on Disney+ Hotstar. The coverage will begin from 8.30 AM from February 5.
