Will Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati host India-Australia ODIs?

Australia is scheduled to visit India for a limited-overs series which comprises of 5 One-Day Internationals and 3 T20Is. The official broadcasters have started to air the promotions of the series starting from September 17. But there is a speculation over the new venues Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati being able to host the ODIs which are allotted to them.

When the BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary had announced the allotment of venues after the Tours, Programme and Fixtures committee met in Kolkata on August 1, he had assured that new stadiums in the capital cities of Kerala and Assam will acquire the requisite clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in time for the matches to be staged.

No ICC clearance yet for new stadiums

Though the BCCI has decided to stage an ODI on the newly constructed grounds, they have not yet received the clearance from ICC. There has been only a little development on the story since last 3 weeks. According to sportstarlive, the date for ICC’s inspection committee’s visit is yet to be finalised. The BCCI executives are confident of acquiring clearance in time for the matches stating that the board and ICC are in constant touch over the same.

However, with only less than a month remaining now for the Australia series to commence, it would be an embarrassing situation for the Indian board if they either fail to get the clearance in time or the stadiums fail to meet the standards set for international venues.

The detailed itinerary for the tour is yet to be released by the BCCI for the series and a lot will depend on when the ICC inspects the newly constructed stadiums. For the record, no new venue can stage an international match without acquiring the clearance. As the festive season in India is about to start, BCCI has cleverly scheduled a plethora of limited-overs matches in India and surely they would want any of the controversies to start now.