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LAHORE, Dec 8: England cricket officials on Thursday unveiled a revised itinerary for next year’s tour of India, ending a bad-tempered row over venues.
England will now play their three Tests at Nagpur, Mohali and Mumbai and start their tour a week earlier than planned, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director of cricket operations John Carr told reporters here.
The initial itinerary had Tests in Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Mumbai and seven one-dayers in outposts like Goa, Indore, Guwahati, Faridabad, Cuttack, Cochin and Visakhapatnam.
The Punjab city of Mohali has now replaced Ahmedabad while the sequence of the One-day Internationals has changed to Delhi, Faridabad, Goa, Cochin, Guwahati, Jamshedpur and Indore.
The tour now runs from Feb 13 to April 15 after Pakistan agreed to postpone the Asia Cup which would have kept India busy until Feb 28. England will open with a three-day warm-up match in Mumbai from Feb 18-20.
England are currently touring Pakistan.
Carr said the changes would also benefit fans.
The BCCI last month declined to change the venues, saying it was a long-standing policy to rotate international matches among the 21 venues dotted across the country.
Revised itinerary
Feb 18-20: Three-day match (Mumbai).
Feb 23-25: Three-day match (Baroda).
March 1-5: First Test (Nagpur).
March 9-13: Second Test (Mohali).
March 18-22: Third Test (Mumbai).
March 25: One-day practice match (Jaipur).
March 28: First One-day International (Delhi).
March 31: Second One-day International (Faridabad).
April 3: Third One-day International (Goa).
April 6: Fourth One-day International (Cochin).
April 9: Fifth One-day International (Guwahati).
April 12: Sixth One-day International (Jamshedpur).
April 15: Seventh One-day International (Indore).—AFP
