West Indies tour of India adjusted

MUMBAI, India (CMC):

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has shifted next month's white-ball series against West Indies to only two two stadiums instead of six, in order to "mitigate biosecurity risks" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originally, the February 6-20 six-match series was scheduled for individual venues but the BCCI said on Saturday the three-match one-day international (ODI) phase will now be hosted at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad while the three-match Twenty20 (T200 segment will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

"The decision to limit the series to two venues instead of six as originally announced has been done to mitigate biosecurity risks by cutting down on travel and movement of the teams, match officials, broadcasters, and other stakeholders," a BCCI statement said.

India is battling a new wave of infections, the south-Asian nation reporting 333,533 new cases on Saturday to lift overall active infections to 2.1 million.

The country has recorded just more than 39 million cases and 489,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

West Indies were forced to abort the ODI phase of their tour of Pakistan after the three-match T20 segment last month, after a COVID-19 outbreak in the camp left them with a threadbare squad.

The BCCI had identified Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata as venues for the three ODIs and Cuttack late last year, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram for the T20 Internationals.

Since then, however, cases have multiplied quickly as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has taken root across the country.

The series will represent West Indies' first overseas trip of the year and will come after of their five-match T20 International series now on in Barbados against world number ones England.

West Indies last toured India in December, 2019, losing both the ODI and T20 series by 2-1 margins.