Sachin Tendulkar will play his 200th Test match at home against the West Indies later this year. BCCI interim secretary Sanjay Patel confirmed on Sunday that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has agreed to tour India in November during which they are likely to play at least two Tests and five ODIs, says a report in The Times Of India.
The itinerary for the tour will be drawn up in consultation with the WICB, but in all likelihood the second Test will be played at the Wankhede Stadium. Assuming he figures in both Tests, Sachin would not only become the first player in cricket's history to play 200 Tests, he would also get to achieve the landmark in Mumbai, his own backyard. It could also be his farewell series as indications are that the Little Master is likely to announce his retirement from all forms of the game at the end of that series.
BCCI's tour and fixtures committee, which will meet shortly to finalise the dates and venues, is also likely to award the first Test to Kolkata.
Meanwhile a report in Calcutta Telegraph too says that Sachin Tendulkar is likely to play his landmark 200th Test at home. At the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s emergent working committee meeting in the city on Sunday, a home series against the West Indies in November was proposed, ahead of the scheduled South Africa tour.
“Since the itinerary for the tour hasn’t been approved by the BCCI, it’s evident that the pressure is on Cricket South Africa to revise it. Significantly, a list of upcoming series approved and announced by the BCCI made no mention of the tour of South Africa, scheduled to take place from the end of November. In other words, there is no clarity on the South Africa tour yet,” says the report.
“Apart from the home series against Australia in October, the working committee approved a proposed home series against the West Indies in the month of November.
“The Indian team’s tour of New Zealand for 2 Tests and 5 ODIs in January/February 2014 was approved. The Indian team’s tour of England for 5 Tests/5 ODIs/one T20 International, from July to September 2014, was approved,” secretary Sanjay Patel said in a media release.
According to a news report in DNA, this news came as a surprise to Cricket South Africa. The CSA was not ready to comment despite BCCI’s press release about their latest programme. It is understood that the BCCI did not even discuss the South African safari during their meeting in Kolkata on Sunday.
“We haven’t communicated with the BCCI on this issue nor have they informed us. We would not like to comment on it,” said a CSA spokesperson. If read between the lines, it suggests that the South Africans are miffed with the new development.
To begin with there were misunderstanding between the boards over the scheduling of the tour. The Indian cricket board wanted to bring some changes to the lengthy tour (almost three months) of South Africa and had conveyed the same to the CSA. They were also unhappy with the home board preparing for most of the games without BCCI’s consent. The minimal gap between each Test is also an issue.