India to host three international cricket series

New Delhi: India will host three international cricket series from August 2012 to March next year, involving 10 Tests, five one-dayers and four Twenty20 Internationals, the BCCI said on Tuesday.

"The AIRTEL series between India and New Zealand will be played in August-September and will feature two Tests and two T20 Internationals," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a release. "Hyderabad and Bengaluru will host the Tests, and the T20 Internationals will be played at Vishakhapatnam and Chennai," he added. After the series, India and New Zealand will fly to Sri Lanka to participate in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup to be held from September 18 to October 7. After that, India host England in the AIRTEL series which will comprise four Tests, two Twenty20 Internationals and five ODIs from November to January next year. The Tests and T20s will be played in November-December this year. The second of the T20 Internationals will be played at the MCA Subroto Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune, thus marking the venue`s international debut. The England team will fly home for Christmas and return in the new year for a five-match ODI series. The series will feature the international debuts of as many as three venues in Rajkot (new stadium), Ranchi and Dharamsala respectively. In February-March next year, India and Australia will play a series, comprising four Tests. The match-schedule is yet to be finalised. PTI