The Indian cricket team will play 14 T20 Internationals and just four Tests at home between November 2021 and June 2022 as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its international itinerary, which features just three ODIs.
The teams that will visit India during the eight-month period are New Zealand (in November-December), West Indies (in February, 2022), Sri Lanka (February-March 2022) and South Africa (in June, 2022).
In between in December-January, India will be touring South Africa and the IPL will happen between April-May.
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Against New Zealand, India will be playing two Tests and three T20Is while West Indies are due to play three ODIs and five T20Is.
Sri Lanka will play two Tests and three T20Is while South Africa will come for the shortest tour where they would play five T20Is in a space of 10 days.
"We have kept 14 T20Is because we have another T20 World Cup in Australia in a year's time and we need to have adequate matches before the big event," a BCCI official said.
The four-Test matches will be held at Kanpur and Mumbai for the New Zealand series while Bengaluru and Mohali will host Sri Lanka in the traditional format.
As per the rotation system, most of the cities will be getting the 17 white-ball games that has been scheduled.
Jaipur, Ranchi, Lucknow, Vizag, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Trivandrum, Chennai, Rajkot, Delhi have all got matches.
BCCI Rolls Out Compensation Package, Fee Hikes For Domestic Cricketers
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Monday announced that the board will increase the match fees for domestic cricketers. Shah, who attended the BCCI Apex Council Meet, also said that the cricketers who played in 2019/20 season will get an additional 50 per cent fee for the curtailed 2020/21 season.
Women cricketers who took part in the senior women's T20s in 2020/21 season will also be eligible for the 50 per cent match fee as compensation for the season lost due to COVID-19 situation.
"I am pleased to announce the hike in match fee for domestic cricketers. Seniors -- INR 60,000 (above 40 matches). Under 23 -- INR 25,000. Under 19 -- INR 20,000," wrote Shah on Twitter.
Till now, senior men domestic cricketers used to earn Rs 35,000 from every match day in the Ranji Trophy or Vijay Hazare Trophy. For the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they were paid Rs 17,500 per match. Reserve members in the team are paid half of the fees of playing members.
But with revision in match fees, three categories of players have been formed in senior men's domestic cricket. Players who have played up to 20 domestic matches will get 40,000 INR, players who have played 21-40 domestic matches will get 40,000 INR and players who have played above 40 domestic matches will get 60,000 INR.
In U-25 category for 2021/22 season, per day fees has been hiked from 17,500 to 20,000 INR. In U-19 category, per day fees has been hiked from 10,500 to 20,000 INR. For U-16, fees have been hiked from 3,500 to 7,000 INR.
"Cricketers who participated in the 2019/20 domestic season will get 50% additional match fee as compensation for the 2020-'21 season lose due to the Covid-19 situation," added Shah.
The additional match fees will also compensate for the reduced number of Ranji Trophy matches in the 2021/22 season. Till 2019/20 edition of the Ranji Trophy, each team was assured of featuring in at least eight First-Class matches. With the revised structure of the format, the number of league matches had come down to five.
In women's domestic cricket, senior players fees have been hiked from 12,500 to 20,000 INR. For U-25, fee have been increased from 5,500 to 10,000 INR. For U-19/U-16, fees will increase from 5,500 to 10,000 INR. The T20 match fees in both men's and women's domestic cricket will be 50% of the respective category.
The decision to organise the U-16 tournaments will be taken by the BCCI post the U-19 tournaments and taking into account the COVID-19 situation.
India's domestic cricket season of 2021/22 will commence on September 21 with the Senior Women's One Day League and will be followed by the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy, starting from October 27.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will kickstart on October 20 with the final to be played on November 12. Ranji Trophy, which was cancelled last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be played in a three-month window from November 16 to February 19, 2022. The Vijay Hazare Trophy will take place from February 23 to March 26 in 2022.
A total of 2127 domestic games will be played this season across various age groups in the men's & women's category.
(With Inputs From IANS)