Not Dharamsala, Ranchi! Ashwin Elated At These Two Venues Hosting England Tests

Team India will play five Tests against England in the Janauary-March window next year as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for the home fixtures for the 2023-24 season. Hyderabad, Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala will hosts the give Tests, respectively. India spinner Ravichandran Aswin was delighted with the choice of venues, especially Vizag and Rajkot. According to Ashwin, the two iconic venues hold a "status quo". The veteran cricketer also pointed out the fact that Vizag and Rajkot also hosted games when England last time toured India for a five-Test series in 2016-17.

"Vizag and Rajkot hold status quo. Should be a good series," Ashwin tweeted.

5 tests against England 2024:Hyderabad Vizag Rajkot Ranchi Dharamshala2016/17Rajkot Vizag Mohali Mumbai ChennaiVizag and Rajkot hold status quo. Should be a good series

As far as the rest of the 2023-24 home calendar is concerned, India will get to fine tune their World Cup preparations with a three-match ODI series against Australia.

The first ODI against Australia will be in Mohali on September 22 with Indore and Rajkot hosting the remaining two on September 24 and 27 respectively.

With the BCCI set to announce the media rights tender during the course of this week, it was a necessary to announce the calendar and one of the striking feature is absence of any ODI game after the World Cup at home in October-November.

With India playing the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies next year, the Hardik Pandya led team will get eight T20 games at home including five against Australian a week after the ODI showpiece and three more against Afghanistan in January 2024.