WILL the India-West Indies matches be played at one or two centres? The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials say planning for the six-match white-ball series is underway but Cricket West Indies (CWI) has said that it is open to the idea of playing the whole series at fewer centres.

The six games are originally spread across six centres from February 6 to 20 with the first match, an ODI, at the Motera stadium followed by games in Jaipur, Kolkata, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.

“A request for such a change has not reached to me as yet. But we accept such operational actions by local boards in the interest of what is best for implementing health protocols,” CWI chief Ricky Skerritt told Cricbuzz recently.

India has been witnessing a rise in the number of COVID cases across the country forcing the BCCI to postpone the domestic season. Contacted, the BCCI office-bearers say the planning is being done for the series.

As per the information from the BCCI, the West Indies team is scheduled to arrive in Ahmedabad on February 1 and undergo a three-day isolation period till February 3. The teams are to have nets for two days, on February 4 and 5, before the first game on February 6.

As has been the game’s operational narrative world over, with the exception in the Ashes Down Under, the boards seem to prefer to avoid extensive travel in the wake of the new COVID wave. In South Africa, India have not had much of travel with matches – three Tests and three ODIs – confined to the Johannesburg and Cape Town areas.

CWI are hosting all its international games – against Ireland and England – in two venues. Sabina Park in Jamaica is the venue for the three ODIs and one-off T20I against Ireland (from January 8 to 16) while Kensington Oval in Barbados will stage the five T20Is against England from January 22 to 30.
(Cricbuzz)