The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a series of changes to the venues for India’s upcoming home fixtures for the 2025 season.
These include senior men’s bilateral series between India-West Indies and India-South Africa, women’s ODIs against Australia, and fixtures from South Africa A’s tour of India.
The most important change was made for the second Test of the West Indies tour. Originally scheduled to be held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the match will now be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi from October 10-14. Also, the first Test of the series against South Africa will now be staged in Kolkata instead of Delhi.
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Also read: Delhi Set to Host India vs West Indies 2nd Test, South Africa Series Opener Moved to Kolkata: Report
BCCI Revises Venues for India’s 2025 Home Season: Delhi, Kolkata Tests Swapped
The second Test of the West Indies series, earlier allotted to the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, will now take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi from October 10 to 14.
Moreover, when South Africa will arrive for their two-match Test series in November, the originally planned opener in Delhi, beginning November 14, has been moved to Kolkata instead.
The Ahmedabad Test, scheduled as the opening fixture against the West Indies from October 2 to 6, remains unchanged. The second South Africa Test, meanwhile, stays in Guwahati and will be played from November 22 to 26.
While the Test venues have been reshuffled, the limited-overs fixtures in the South Africa series remain as originally planned. The three ODIs will be played in Ranchi (November 30), Raipur (December 3), and Visakhapatnam (December 6).
It will be followed by a five-match T20I series. The fixtures are scheduled to be held in Cuttack (December 9), New Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17) and Ahmedabad (December 19).
The changes were made keeping in mind the poor air quality in Delhi during November. Delhi’s air pollution has led to match interruptions in the past, the most infamous example being the 2017 Test against Sri Lanka, where players wore masks on the field. Swapping the Delhi and Kolkata fixtures helps avoid similar scenarios this year.
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MA Chidambaram Stadium Renovation Shifts Women’s Series; South Africa A ODIs Moved to Rajkot
The India vs Australia women’s ODI series scheduled in September has also seen a change in venues. The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, originally set to host all three matches, is currently undergoing upgrades.
As a result, the first and second ODIs will now be played in New Chandigarh on September 14 and 17 respectively, with the final match scheduled at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on September 20.
South Africa A’s upcoming tour of India has also been slightly adjusted. Their two four-day matches remain in Bengaluru (October 30-November 2 and November 6-9) at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. However, the three one-dayers that were scheduled at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium have been moved to the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. These 50-over games will now be played on November 13, 16 and 19.
Also read: Indian Women’s and India ‘A’ Teams Get Packed Home Schedule from BCCI
