India will host England for full-fledged series in February 2021, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly tells state units

New Delhi: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed to its affiliated units that India will be hosting England for a full series in February next year after playing an away rubber in Australia. The Board supremo also informed the state units that the 2021 IPL will be held in April, within five months of the upcoming edition, which concludes on 10 November. [caption id=“attachment_8429031” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of Sourav Ganguly. AP[/caption] This is Ganguly’s second communication to the states in last two months as he seeks to keep the members posted about India’s commitments in the Future Tours Programme (FTP). He said that India is ready to host the T20 World Cup next year and the ODI World Cup in 2023. “The BCCI and the Indian cricket team will continue to fulfil its FTP commitments. The senior Indian men’s team will travel to Australia for its series starting in December this year, and will come back to the country for a series against England starting February next year. “This will be followed by IPL 2021 in April,” Ganguly said in an email to all the affiliated units. “The BCCI continues to be the host for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and the 50-over ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023.” The former India captain also said that the tours of the Indian women’s team are “under discussion” but did not elaborate on that. He has assured all state associations that domestic cricket will start as and when the situation is safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but did not specify a date for the season’s kick-off. Normally domestic season starts in August but the pandemic has wreaked havoc with the calendar and Ganguly’s letter to state associations made it clear that the Board is yet to lock in a date. The domestic season is now expected to begin with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, tentatively from the third week of November. “The BCCI is making all efforts to ensure that domestic cricket resumes as and when the conditions permit. The health and safety of players and all other involved in domestic cricket is of utmost importance to BCCI and we are constantly monitoring all aspects,” Ganguly wrote in the letter to presidents and secretaries of the its affiliated member associations. “All members will be duly informed about the future course of action and suggestions will be taken before we resume domestic cricket.” He said the BCCI was hopeful that the situation arising out of the pandemic would improve in the next few months and that domestic cricket would be able to start in a safe environment.