India to tour West Indies for seven weeks starting July 6

NEW DELHI: The Indian team will tour the West Indies for seven weeks, starting July 6, for four Tests and two practice matches. The Tests will be played in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The tour will start with a two-day practice match from July 9 in St Kitts followed by a three-day warm-up match from July 14 at the same venue. The first Test will begin from July 21, the second from July 30, the third from August 9 and the last one from August 18.

Despite the BCCI and WICB confirming the tour more than six months ago, the announcement of the itinerary was delayed owing to the series clashing with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which starts from June 30. The WICB was involved in talks with CPL officials to avoid any potential venue clash. The BCCI also sent its general manager MV Sridhar to do a recce of the venues in May.

Head of operations at the West Indies Cricket Board, Roland Holder, said all four venues “are ready to host the visiting Indian team.” The last time the Indian team toured the West Indies was in June 2011 for a three-Test series, which India won 1-0.

Last December, the top brass of the two boards had met in India following which WICB president Dave Cameron had said that the Indian board would honour the four-Test series, listed in the ICC’s Future Tours Programme.