India vs Australia headlines 2020-21 cricketing summer Down Under as CA releases Men's and Women's international schedule

Cricket Australia on Thursday announced its schedule for the 2020-21 home summer, with the Indian Men’s team headlining the cricketing season. As per the schedule, Virat Kohli-led India are set to play three T20Is and ODIs on either side of the four Tests in Australia which includes a Day-Night Test as well. [caption id=“attachment_5676501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Virat Kohli and Tim Paine, captain of India and Australia respectively, pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy. AFP[/caption] The first Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy will start from 3 December at The Gabba in Brisbane, but it won’t be Australia’s first match in red-ball cricket as a one-off Test against Afghanistan is pencilled on 21 November. Afghanistan and Australia will meet for the first time in the Test arena and that match in Perth will be a Day-Night affair. The Australian board expressed its confidence in hosting a safe and successful summer after announcing its 2020-21 men’s and women’s international schedule. The packed season comprises of cricketing action in every month from August 2020 to February 2021, including the Men’s T20 World Cup, but CA chief executive Kevin Roberts said that the schedule is subject to change amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. “While acknowledging the difficulty in navigating a global pandemic, we are nonetheless encouraged by the progress Australia is making in combatting the coronavirus and the positive impact that is having on our ability to host an exciting summer of cricket in 2020-21. “We know that circumstances or events beyond our control could mean that the final schedule potentially may look different to the one released today, but we’ll be doing everything we can to get as much international cricket in as possible this summer. We will communicate any changes to the schedule if or when they are required," Roberts said in a release. According to the schedule, the men’s side from Zimbabwe will be the first international team to visit the Australian shores in August for a short three-match ODI series, followed by the women’s team from New Zealand taking on the world champions Australia in three T20I series in September. At the time of writing this report, Australia has recorded over 7,000 coronavirus cases of which more than 6500 have recovered, while a little over 100 deaths have been recorded. Here’s the complete schedule of Australia’s home summer 2020-21 Men’s ODI Series v Zimbabwe First ODI: 9 August, TBC Second ODI: 12 August, TBC Third ODI: 15 August, Riverway Stadium, Townsville Women’s T20I Series v New Zealand First T20I: 27 September, North Sydney Oval Second T20I: 29 September, North Sydney Oval Third T20I: 1 October, North Sydney Oval Men’s T20I Series v West Indies First T20I: 4 October, Riverway Stadium, Townsville Second T20I: 6 October, Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns Third T20I: 9 October, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast Women’s ODI Series v New Zealand First ODI: 5 October, Riverway Stadium, Townsville Second ODI: 7 October, Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns Third ODI: 10 October, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast Men’s T20I Series v India First T20I: 11 October, the Gabba, Brisbane Second T20: 14 October, Manuka Oval, Canberra Third T20: 17 October, Adelaide Oval Men’s T20 World Cup The men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled from 18 October to 15 November. Men’s Test v Afghanistan Only Test: 21-25 November, Perth Stadium (day-night) Men’s Test Series v India First Test: 3-7 December, the Gabba, Brisbane Second Test: 11-15 December, Adelaide Oval (day-night) Third Test: 26-30 December, MCG Fourth Test: 3-7 January, SCG Men’s ODI Series v India First ODI: 12 January, Perth Stadium Second ODI: 15 January, MCG Third ODI: 17 January, SCG Women’s ODI Series v India First ODI: 22 January, Manuka Oval, Canberra Second ODI: 25 January, Junction Oval, Melbourne Third ODI: 28 January, Blundstone Arena, Hobart Men’s ODI Series v New Zealand First ODI: 26 January, Adelaide Oval Second ODI: 29 January, Manuka Oval, Canberra Third ODI: 31 January, Blundstone Arena, Hobart Men’s T20 v New Zealand Only T20: 2 February, SCG