Agencies
Antigua
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), on Thursday (June 2), confirmed India’s schedule for four Tests in the Caribbean in July and August. India will reach the West Indies on July 6 for a 49-day tour, and will play two warm-up matches before the first Test, which is scheduled to begin at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on July 21.
The second Test is scheduled at The Sabina Park in Jamaica, and will start on July 30.
Both teams will have a short break and resume the series with the third Test at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia on August 9. The tour will end with the fourth game at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad from August 18 and the Indian contingent is scheduled to depart on August 23.
While Antigua and Jamaica hosted Tests last year, St Lucia and Trinidad have not hosted a five-day game since 2014.
India’s warm-up games will be a two-day affair on July 9 and 10, followed by a three-day match from July 14 to 16, both at Warner Park in St Kitts.
This is India’s first Test assignment in West Indies since they travelled to the islands in 2011 after a victorious World Cup campaign. On that occasion, India had won the three-match series 1-0, with the third Test ending in an infamous draw once India decided not a pursue a target of 180, when the team was 94 for 3 and needed 86 runs in the last 15 overs. They still ended the tour as winners of the lone Twenty20 International, the One-Day International series and the Tests.
India travelled to West Indies again in 2013, but only played in a triangular series, which they won after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
Schedule:
1st Warm-up game, St Kitts: July 9-10
2nd Warm-up game, St Kitts: July 14-16
1st Test, Antigua:July 21-25
2nd Test, Jamaica:July 30-August 3
3rd Test, St Lucia:August 9-13
4th Test, Trinidad:August 18-22
