Probably for the first time in recent years, the Australian men's cricket team will not host any teams for the home series during the hot summer month of January. Rather, they have decided to tour India instead to play the series over there.
According to the announcement by Cricket Australia of the 2019-20 schedule, the Australian men's team will tour India to play a three-match One Day International series mid-January 2020, in what is being considered as a significant move in the Australian cricket summer.
ICC Future tours program (FTP) suggests that Australia was scheduled to play a three-match One Day International tour to India in January 2020, but various media reports stated that Cricket Australia had requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to postpone the series as January is the peak season for the cricket in the country.
However, it seems the BCCI has rejected the request made by Cricket Australia to change the date of the series.
According to a statement, "Cricket Australia will honour its commitment to touring India for three ODIs in mid-January, which had caused a reshuffle of the home international schedule and pushed back the Chappell - Hadlee series."
Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.
"The long-range FTP had three separate limited-overs series scheduled between India, New Zealand and Australia. When the countries started working through the details, it was clear that there was not enough space for each series at the proposed times."
Every year, Cricket Australia hosts various teams for the One Day International, and the Twenty20 series but some days in January 2020 will not see international cricket being played in the country at all.
Cricket Australia stated, "There will be a 63-day break between the men's home international fixtures, with Australia's ODI team expected to be in India for about 10 days in late January."
"CA took the position that while January was our preference for these ODI matches, there are times we need to honor our commitments to work in the greater context of international cricket scheduling."
"India celebrates their Republic Day on January 26, meaning there will be no men's international cricket on Australia Day 2020," Cricket Australia further added.
The fixtures for the One Day International series between India and Australia in January 2020 are yet to be announced.
