Two cricketing backwaters that have never hosted a Test match before will stage the opening salvos of England's high-profile five-match series against India later this year, officials said Friday. The cities of Rajkot and Visakhapatnam will host the first two matches of what is England's first ever five-Test tour of India that begins on November 9, according to a schedule likely to disappoint travelling fans.
The other three Tests will be held in more established venues in Mohali, Mumbai and Chennai, the city formerly known as Madras which will be the venue for the final Test from December 16-20. Rajkot's Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium has only ever previously hosted two one-day internationals while the Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium has staged four limited overs matches. Neither Rajkot in the north-western state of Gujarat nor Visakhapatnam on India's south-east coast are popular tourist hangouts and are not obvious destinations for England's legion of fans known as the Barmy Army.
Although India's board had not previously given the dates for each match, it announced in June that both Rajkot and Visakhapatnam would be part of a push to take Test cricket "to every corner of the country". India will play 13 Tests in total during the coming season, the most since the 1979-80 home season, along with eight ODIs and three T20 internationals.
Alastair Cook's England team pulled off a shock 2-1 series victory on their last Test tour of India in 2012, which included a win at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, which will host the fourth Test this time. After wrapping up the Test tour just before Christmas, England will return in January for three ODIs and two T20s matches, led by limited overs skipper Eoin Morgan. India are currently second in the Test rankings behind Australia. Fourth-placed England can move up a spot if they win their ongoing home series against third-placed Pakistan.
First Test: Rajkot (November 9-13)
Second Test: Visakhapatnam (November 17-21)
Third Test: Mohali (November 26-30)
Fourth Test: Mumbai (December 8-12)
Fifth Test: Chennai (December 16-20)
First ODI: Pune (January 15)
Second ODI: Cuttack (January 19) Third ODI: Kolkata (January 22)
First T20: Kanpur (January 26)
Second T20: Nagpur (January 29)
Third T20: Bangalore (February 1).