Ranchi, Dharmasala to host ODIs against England

Mumbai, April 2 (IANS) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hometown Ranchi and the popular hill station of Dharmasala will be hosting ODIs for their first time during the series against England November 2012-January 2013.

Dharamsala has been hosting Indian Premier League (IPL) matches for the last two seasons and will now have its first taste of an international match. Rajkot's newly constructed stadium will also host one of the ODIs in the five-match series against England.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) scretary Sanjay Jagdale in a statement said that the series against England will feature four Tests to be played in Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur. The two Twenty20 internationals will be played in Mumbai and in Pune at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, where IPL team Pune Warriors team will be playing their home matches this season.

India will also be playing Two Tests and a couple of T20 internationals against New Zealand in August and September. The Test matches against New Zealand will be held in Hyderabad and Bangalore while Vizag and Chennai will host the Twenty20s.

India will also host Australia for a Test series in February-March next year. The four Tests will be played in Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur and Mohali.

Summarised itinerary

New Zealand Series (Aug-Sep 2012)

2 Test Matches (Hyderabad and Bengaluru)

2 T20 Internationals (Vizag and Chennai)

England Series (Nov 2012-Jan 2013)

4 Test Matches (Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur)

2 T20 Internationals (Pune and Mumbai)

5 ODIs (Rajkot, Dharamsala, Ranchi, Mohali and Kochi)

Australia Series (Feb 2013-Mar 2013)

4 Test Matches (Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur and Mohali)