The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for India’s upcoming home season in which they will face Australia, England and Afghanistan in multiple formats starting with an ODI series before the World Cup 2023.
In order to bolster their preparations for the upcoming 50 over World Cup which India will be hosting from October 5 to November 19, the Indian cricket team will face one of the best teams in the world, Australia, in a three match ODI series following which they will be busy in the mega ICC tournament.
After the conclusion of the World Cup, which India hope to win after a gap of more than 13 years, the Indian cricket team below cons with Australia in a five match T20 international series given that the focus will then shift on the shorTest format where a World Cup will be held next year in the West Indies and the USA.
The series against Afghanistan will be a T20 series as well in January 2024 following which India will face a huge challenge in the form of a five Test series against England, with all five matches to be played at non-regular venues.
In fact, it was earlier announced that every venue which is hosting the 50 over World Cup matches will not be getting any matches during India’s home season this year and the BCCI have lived up to their promise. The venues such as Mohali, Indore, Rajkot and Visakhapatnam which were expected to host World Cup matches but did not get any will be getting at least two matches during India’s home season in 2023-24.
Among the other match venues that missed out on hosting the World Cup, Trivandrum, Guwahati, Nagpur and Ranchi will also host matches during the India home season 2023-24. Hyderabad is the only venue which will be hosting a few World Cup matches as well as a Test match during the home season against England as well as a T20 international match against Australia.
For that matter, Bengaluru and Dharamsala have also been given matches during the Indian home season especially when they are hosting 50 over World Cup matches.
India’s home season will start on September 22 when they will face Australia in a three match ODI series, with the first match to be played on September 22 in Mohali, the second ODI to be played in Indore on September 24 and the third and final ODI to be played in Rajkot on September 27.
After the World Cup which ends on November 19, India will get only a four day break provided that they reach the final before the kick-off of the second leg of their home season.
It will be a five match T20 international series against Australia which will start with first match in Visakhapatnam on November 23, second T20 international against Australia on November 26 in Trivandrum, third T20 international in Gauhati on November 28, fourth T20 international on December one in Nagpur and the fifth and final T20 international in Hyderabad on December 3.
The series against Afghanistan will consist of three T20 internationals starting on January 11 but the first match to be played in Mohali, the second match will be played in Indore on January 14 whereas Bangalore will host the third and final 20 international against the Afghan side on January 17.
India’s make a home season will end with unimportant five match Test series against England with the first match to be played in Hyderabad from January 25-29, the second Test to be played in Visakhapatnam from February 2-6, the third Test to be played in Rajkot from February 15-19, the fourth Test to be played in Ranchi from February 23 to 27 and the fifth and final Test to be played in Dharamsala from March 7- 11.
It is expected that after the conclusion of the home season, the Indian players will get some break as they will have to get busy with the preparations for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 which will be held in the first half of next year.