NEW CHANDIGARH: The BCCI announced the home season schedule for India women and A tours and the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, is named as the venue for the white-ball series against Australia women. The BCCI release said that the three-match ODI series, which would be in the lead up to the Women’s World Cup in India, will be played in Chennai from September 14-20.
However, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association were planning to begin the relaying of the entire outfield at the historic venue from June. With this announcement from the BCCI, it is understood that the TNCA will make a decision in the coming days on whether to continue with their plans or postpone it.
Earlier, the TNCA had decided to begin the process of relaying the entire outfield in June, as it takes four to five months to complete. The current outfield hasn’t been completely relaid in more than a decade. So the original plan was to finish the process by the end of this year and get the stadium ready for the Men’s T20 World Cup – to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka – in February 2026. With the BCCI allotting the three women’s ODIs to Chennai, TNCA is expected to take a decision on whether to go ahead with their original plans or postpone the work until after the men’s T20 World Cup in the coming days.
Apart from the women’s ODIs, the BCCI has also announced two A-series for men. Australia A team will tour India to play two multi-day tournaments in Lucknow from September 19-26 followed by three one-dayers in Kanpur from September 30-October 5. Later, the South Africa A team will tour for a similiar series. The two multi-day games will be played in BCCI CoE, Bengaluru (from October 30 till November 9) and the three one-dayers will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium (from November 13-19).