England tour of India 2020: If reports are to be believed, the limited-overs series is unlikely to be played this year.
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England’s tour of India this year is highly likely to become the latest series of cricket to get postponed as an aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. England, who last toured India in 2017, were expected to play three ODIs and three T20Is in September in India.
Ideally scheduled to be played after the now-defunct Asia Cup 2020 and before the ICC T20 World Cup 2020, the matches would have provided an ideal chance for both the teams to prepare for the world event.
“England were supposed to play six games during late September. Obviously in the current circumstances England won’t be travelling to India,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Expecting a formal announcement in the days to come, the official also ruled out the possibility of New Zealand A travelling to India to play against India A.
“But I guess a formal announcement will happen once the FTP issue is discussed as it’s part of the agenda during Friday’s Apex Council meeting. New Zealand A had a tour of India scheduled in August and even that’s also unlikely to go ahead,” the official said.
England tour of India 2020
With originally planned scheduled going for a toss due to the global pandemic, such changes were bound to happen. England, who have shown keen interest in hosting Australia in September, would have hardly managed to play against Australia at home and then tour India for a limited-over series.
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Moreover, the dates of the India-England series clashing with the expected IPL 2020 schedule, means that the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) are likely to host England at a later date.
Scheduled to play a five-match Test series in India in February-March next year, England might play the white-ball matches after the Test series. If a report in the Daily Mail is to be believed, England’s postponed series will be played in September 2021 before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 (also in India).