India to play Pink ball Test against England in Ahmedabad, confirms Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed India will play England in a day-night Pink ball Test in Ahmedabad early next year.

"Ahmedabad will hold the day-night Test," Ganguly said at the Kolkata Press Club during the book launch of a book by CPI(M) MLA Ashok Bhattacharya, as reported by PTI agency.

England are scheduled to tour India from January-March for five Tests and a limited-overs series.

After the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 was shifted to the UAE due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there were speculations about the same happening with India's home series against England. However, the former Indian skipper Ganguly has cleared that the BCCI is determined to host England in India and is already checking all possible options, including creating bio-secure bubbles.

Ganguly, who was quizzed about the series' possible venues, said," We have made some tentative plans but nothing has been decided as of now. We still have four months' time." According to recent reports, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, and Kolkata are likely to be the three venues for the Test series.

In the same interview, Ganguly also insisted that as of now, the BCCI is focusing on India's upcoming Down Under tour that is set to kick-start in December.

"Before England, we have Australia series coming up. There will be team selection happening in a few days," said Ganguly.

On being asked if it would be difficult for players to switch to the Test format immediately after the IPL, the BCCI chief added: "They are all quality players; they will be fine."

The 13th edition of IPL is currently underway in the UAE. It was earlier reported that India's tour of Australia 2020-21, which is expected to run for at least two months, is likely to kickstart with the limited-overs series: three ODIs in Brisbane followed by three T20Is in Adelaide.

The pink-ball Test is scheduled to take place at the Adelaide Oval between Dec.17 and 21 and is still subject to final confirmation from the local state governments in Australia. While reports were suggesting that this year's Boxing Day Test is set to be moved away from Melbourne, the Cricinfo report has stated that the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the traditional Boxing Day Test (Dec.26-30). That will be followed by Tests in Sydney (Jan. 7-11), and at the Gabba, Brisbane (Jan. 15-19).