India's home season fixtures for 2019/20 revealed; Here is the full itinerary

While everyone's attention is focussed on the ongoing ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup, the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has come out with the itinerary for India's home season of 2019/20. What's most noticeable about this season is the profusion of T20Is and restricting of bilateral ODI series to just three matches. There will be five Tests and nine ODIs along with as many as 12 T20Is.

The season kicks off with a tour of the South African team. In the opening game of the new season, Proteas would play the hosts on September 15 at Dharamsala in a T20 game, part of a 3-match series. This will be followed by a 3-Test series commencing on October 2 at Visakhapatnam.

The South Africans would return at the end of the season, early next year, for a 3-match ODI series beginning on March 12. After the first part of the South African tour, Bangladesh would arrive for another 3-match T20 series followed a 2-game Test series.

The next visitor would be West Indies to play three games each in T20 and ODI format against the men in blue. Then, Zimbabwe would visit India for their first series in this country since 2002 – a three match affair in the shortest format of the game. These matches would be held in January of next year. Australia will play an ODI series with an equal number of matches in the same month. The visit of the South Africans for the ODIs would round off the home season.

The two Test series are part of the ICC Test Championship – the new competition to choose the best team in the longest format of the game. Here are the complete fixtures for the upcoming Indian home season.