The Indian cricket team will play 24 matches at home against three international sides. As per the fixture announced by the BCCI, Team India will play 13 Test matches, eight ODIs and three T20 international matches against New Zealand, England and Australia in 2016–17.
Rajkot, Vizag, Pune, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Indore will host Test matches for the first time in the forthcoming season.
New Zealand’s tour of India
The home season will start with three Test matches and five ODIs against New Zealand. The three Test match series against New Zealand will be played at Indore, Kanpur and Kolkata. Dharamsala, Delhi, Mohali, Ranchi and Vizag will host the five ODIs against New Zealand.
England’s tour of India
The New Zealand series will be followed by five Test Matches, three ODIs and three T20 international matches against England. The five Tests against England will be played at Mohali, Rajkot, Mumbai, Vizag and Chennai. Pune, Cuttack and Kolkata will be the venues for the three ODIs. Bengaluru, Nagpur and Kanpur will hold the three T20Is.
Australia’s tour of India
Australia will visit India in February–March 2017 to play four Test matches. The four Tests will be hosted by Bengaluru, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Pune. Bangladesh is slated to play a one-off Test match, which will be played at Hyderabad. All these venues will get matches subject to the condition that they have numbered the seats in the stadiums and fulfil all the guidelines laid down by the BCCI.
Duleep Trophy to be played under lights
India cricket’s domestic season will kick off in the month of September, wherein for the first time ever, Duleep Trophy will be played under lights and with a pink ball. During the entire season, 918 matches will be organised that include Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Irani Cup, Women’s cricket and all other age group cricket. This translates into 1,882 playing days between September 2016 and March 2017.
BCCI president Anurag Thakur said, “I welcome the new Test venues hosting this prestigious format of cricket and their arrival will take Test match cricket to every corner of the country. We are equally excited about the domestic season as we will be playing the Duleep trophy with the pink ball under lights and take this opportunity to welcome Chhattisgarh, who will play Ranji trophy for the first time. A combined team of affiliate and associate states will participate in the junior age group tournaments, which will provide a much-needed opportunity to the emerging players from these areas. This further reaffirms our commitment to spread the game by providing the appropriate platforms to our next generation cricketer.”
