The Elaborate Schedule Of India’s Tour Of Australia Is As Follows:
A combination of factors including schedule, player exhaustion and feasibility could mean that India’s Australia tour could commence this year with the limited-over leg instead of the four tests later.
There has been no official confirmation of the change of schedule from BCCI or Cricket Australia but according to a report in a leading sports website, the discussion to start the series with ODIs and T20Is is already on the table.
Due to the changes in schedule due to the Covid -19 pandemic, the T20Is were postponed to 2022 in Australia before the T20 World and it was decided that India will commence its tour with the Test series.
“The one major advantage of playing half-a-dozen white-ball matches-T20Is and ODIs-at the front end of the tour would mean that there will be no games missed from the original schedule since it was announced that the T20Is will be moved to 2022 in the same format alongside the World Cup,” the study said.
When this happens then India will have to travel together with a wide squad with its Test and T20I specialists much as Pakistan did for their ongoing England tour. “The timetable is likely to change because of a number of reasons, one of which is the recent increase in Melbourne’s Covid-19 incidents, which forced the city into a lockout expected to last until mid-September. As a result, matches are likely to be played in reduced venues to ensure minimum movement and players are safe within the bubble. A series of experiments spread over four cities, and as many states are increasingly impossible, “the study added.
One big consideration is the one-off Australia-Afghanistan Test, which will be a day-night affair. CA has apparently already communicated the start-date of the test match to the Afghanistan Cricket Board to be moved from the initial 21st of November to 24th, leaving only a four-day gap between it and the first India Test.
Alternatively, the study says, starting India series with limited-overs would be a safer option for cricketers from both India and Australia. Indian cricketers too will have little time to prepare for the test series as in-house facilities such as England are not yet approved by Australia, which may well mean that Virat Kohli ‘s men have to spend their two-week quarantine without much cricket practice.
