Picture Credit: BCCI and ECB
The upcoming India-England series grabbed the eyeballs on Thursday - months before its scheduled start - for a different reason. Some of the media reports had claimed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had made an official request to their counterpart England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a bid to make changes in the dates of the upcoming five-match series between the sides that is slated to be held between August and September.
Reports had stated that the move was taken in order to keep the month of September free from India's international calendar so that the BCCI could organise the remaining of IPL 2021 in that period. Some of the reports even went on to say that BCCI is planning to tweak the number of days of the Test matches between the sides from 5-day per game to 4-day per game.
ECB denies reports of BCCI requesting for a change in schedule
However, a recent statement from an ECB official to media has made things clear. According to him, no official request from the Indian cricket governing body has been made.
"We talk to the BCCI on a regular basis about a wide range of issues especially as we address the challenges of COVID-19, but have had no official request to change dates and are continuing to plan for the five-Test series as is scheduled," a spokesman for the England board told Cricbuzz on late Thursday.
India's Test series against England
After facing New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship between June 18 and 22, India will play 5 Test matches against England, starting August 4. The other four matches are slated to start on August 12, August 25, September 2 and September 10.
Notably, Virat Kohli and company are in quarantine in Mumbai from where they will depart for the UK at the beginning of the next month.