India's tour to Australia in January 2021 postponed

India’s scheduled tour to Australia in January 2021 has been postponed to 2021-22 season, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement on Thursday (December 31).



India were supposed to travel to Australia in January 2021 to play three ODIs ahead of the Cricket World Cup in New Zealand that was scheduled to start in February 2021. But with the global event postponed to 2022 there was always some doubt about whether the ODI series would go ahead.



“We had initially hoped to play India this summer, however the impact of the global pandemic made it necessary to postpone until next season,” said Nick Hockley, interim CEO of CA.



India last played international cricket against Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup 2020 in March. They were scheduled to travel to England for a series in late June, which was rescheduled to August-September as a tri-series between the hosts, India and South Africa. But India pulled out of the tour citing travel restrictions that were in place at the time in the country owing to COVID-19. Since then India also postponed their tour to Sri Lanka.



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India could play the postponed ODI series ahead of the World Cup in 2022 as an expanded series with three T20Is too added to the fixture. Dates for the rescheduled series will be announced in due to time, CA’s statement added.



“We are very hopeful of delivering an expanded schedule between the Australian and Indian women’s teams for next season, which would be an outstanding result for fans in both countries,” Hockley added.



“It will be wonderful to once again host the Indian women’s team, who were centre stage for that unforgettable ICC T20 World Cup final at the MCG in March, and to do so with an expanded schedule from what was originally planned.”