The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday released the much-awaited Future Tours Program (FTP) for the 2023-27 cycle as per which the Indian team will play 20 Test matches in the new cycle, starting with an away two-match series against Bangladesh in December 2022.
The men’s FTP will include a total of 777 international matches – 173 Tests, 281 ODIs and 323 T20Is – which will be a part of ICC events as well as bilateral and tri-nation series.
In the new cycle, India will host Australia for the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy next year. The series will witness a five-Test matches in February and March rather than the usual four. India will then tour West Indies and South Africa for two-match series each.
Later in 2024, India will host England, Bangladesh and New Zealand, while travelling to Australia.
In 2025, India will tour England for a five-match Test series before hosting West Indies and South Africa.
In 2026, India will host Afghanistan for a one-off Test match before touring Sri Lanka and New Zealand. India’s final Test series of the 2023-27 cycle will be a home series against Australia.
Commenting on the development, ICC GM of Cricket Wasim Khan said: “We are incredibly lucky to have three vibrant formats of the game, with an outstanding programme of ICC global events and strong bilateral and domestic cricket and this FTP is designed to allow all cricket to flourish.”
England, Australia and India will feature in the greatest number of Test matches during the cycle, as they are set to play 22, 21 and 20 five-day games respectively. The upcoming cycle of the FTP also features five major ICC events, starting with the Cricket World Cup next year in India.
Champions Trophy in 2025 to be hosted by Pakistan. India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the T20 World Cup in 2026 and the FTP cycle will be rounded off by the Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2027.
Speaking on the decision to increase in the number of match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said: “I think spectators from Australia and India and probably anyone that loved the game around the world would have liked to have seen more Test matches between Australia and India, so absolutely I think it’s a fantastic initiative and more importantly, I think all the players will really enjoy that as well.”
“The thing about Australia-India series is that the conditions we play into so are so different and so contrasting. When India come to Australia they get the fast, bouncy wickets that offer something for the seamers,” Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“And then when Australia go to India it’s pretty much the other way round with a lot of spin and a lot of reverse swing bowling. So that contrast in itself I think is what players really like and what the fans would love to watch,” he added.