India vs England 2016-17: Rajkot in fray to host first ever Test match
India vs England 2016-17: Rajkot in fray to host first ever Test match
The honorary secretary of Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Niranjan Shah has said that cricket fans in Rajkot will soon get to relish Test matches as the stadium has now been granted the status to hold matches for the longest version of the game. It is always big achievement for a stadium when it is given Test status and certainly love cricket like the rest of the nation. Rajkot is one of the major cities in Gujarat but its stadium was not given the permission to hold Test matches for long but last year they were able to get Test status. Live Cricket Scorecard: Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore , Live Score, 19th T20 Match, IPL 2016
In a conversation with Times of India Niranjan said, “There are eight Tests slotted to be played in India this year. The New Zealanders will be coming in October for three Tests while the England team will tour India in November to play five Tests. Most likely , SCA will get to host one of the England Test matches. It will be a big thing in Rajkot and people will love it. Ours is a small town and people here appreciate every kind of cricket being played here.” Live Cricket Scorecard: Rising Pune Supergiants vs Kolkata Knight Riders , Live Score, 20th T20 Match, IPL 2016
SCA’s stadium in Kandheri is currently hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016. It has also hosted two One-Day International (ODI) matches in 2013 and 2015. India faced England and South Africa respectively in those matches. It will be interesting to see if the Rajkot stadium will live up to the standards set for holding Test cricket.
England are set to tour India in late 2016, for a marathon tour that consists of five Tests, five One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and one-off Twenty20 International (T20I). England’s tour of India 2016-17 will begin in November 2016, and will go on till February 2017. India and England last clashed in a five-match Test series in 2014 in England, in a series in which India were drubbed 1-3 by their hosts.