England’s white-ball tour to India, originally scheduled for September and October 2020, has been postponed until 2021, when Joe Root’s side are due to play five Tests in the country.
The dates for the rescheduled fixtures are not yet confirmed. The three ODIs and three T20Is were originally slated to form part of both team’s T20 World Cup preparations. With that tournament also postponed due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and India rescheduling the 2020 IPL for September to November, a rejigging of the schedule made sense to both parties.
“Now that we have clarity regarding the postponement of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, it enables us to work with other boards to progress the vital task of optimising the international schedules in the challenging circumstances that we have all been having to address with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said ECB CEO Tom Harrison.
“International cricket between India and England is a highlight of the cricketing calendar and we look forward to working with the BCCI to firm-up the schedules for these eagerly anticipated tours as soon as possible.”
“The BCCI and ECB are working closely to finalise the schedule as we move towards the resumption of cricket,” said Jay Shah, BCCI honorary secretary. “I am pleased with the way BCCI and ECB have managed the situation. The rescheduled tour is also being redesigned in a way to accommodate both red and white-ball format and will now be a comprehensive one.”
