India tour of New Zealand for three ODI’s postponed until 2022.
New Zealand vs India: India’s New Zealand tour of 2021 for the three matches One Day International (ODI) series has been postponed, confirmed New Zealand Cricket (NZC) spokesperson, owing to choke-a-block schedule and covid restrictions of the hosts.
As per the schedule released by ICC in its Future Tour Programme (FTP), the Men in Blue were supposed to travel to New Zealand for an ODI series which was apparently also the part of ODI World Cup Super League 2023.
However, the recent development from the two cricket boards confirms that the tour has now been postponed and will be held after the completion of next year’s T20 World Cup, which is slated to be held in Australia. BCCI and NZC will release the finalised dates for the postponed tour later once both the counterparts schedules a meet.
With this, the Kiwis will, now, only host South Africa, Bangladesh and Netherlands following the T20 World Cup 2021. Thereafter the country is also scheduled to host the Women’s World Cup, starting March 4.
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New Zealand Men’s Jam-packed Schedule:
New Zealand has a packed schedule as of now. The team is playing against Pakistan in a limited-overs series after which they will participate in the IPL 2021 phase 2. The completion of the cash-rich Indian league will lead to the beginning of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE.
New Zealand will then tour India for two-Test matches and three T20Is after summing up the World Cup campaign. The Kiwi players will return home somewhere during December after a long stretch of cricketing action. A mandatory 14 days quarantine is also allocated for the entering people in New Zealand which makes it even tougher for the players.
“We’ve got to be mindful of players coming back from a long winter and we’ve got to give them time at home as well,” David White, the NZC chief executive, had previously told Stuff.
Amid the covid pandemic, mental health has been under the scanner of several experts and the cricket board wants their cricketers to be sane. The players have become more vocal about their mental well-being than ever.
Recently, England all-rounder Ben Stokes announced his indefinite break from all forms of cricket to be mentally fit. THe cricketer got support from all around the world and is still serving his break.
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