MUMBAI, Dec 31: India One-day squad is all set to leave for the tour of New Zealand, where it will play a five-match series against the hosts from January 19, a week in advance in order to get acclimatised to the weather and pitch conditions there.
“The team (which was picked today) is to leave on January 12,” a Cricket Board source informed.
The first ODI is scheduled at the McLean Park, Napier on January 19 followed by matches on January 22 (Seddon Park, Hamilton), January 25 (Eden Park, Auckland), January 28 (Seddon Park, Hamilton) and January 31 (Westpac Stadium, Wellington).
The Board has also decided to send the Test specialists — Zaheer Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay — who are not a part of the ODI squad a week later, so that even they could get acclimatised to the local conditions ahead of the start of the two-Test rubber from February 6 at Eden Park, Auckland.
“Some players of the Test (team) are travelling after a week or so,” Sanjay Patel, secretary of BCCI, said.
The Indian team will play a two-day warm-up game at the Cobham Oval, Whangarei, on February 2-3 ahead of their opening Test.
The second and final Test is scheduled from February 14-18 at Hawkins Basin Reserve, Wellington. (PTI)
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