NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Monday that the third Test between India and Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series has been shifted from Dharamshala's HPCA Stadium to Holkar Stadium in Indore. The 3rd Test is scheduled to take place from March 1 to March 5.
The BCCI stated in a statement on Monday that "because to the harsh winter weather in the area, the outfield lacks proper grass density and would need some time to develop fully."
The entire outfield, including the pitch, had been relaid by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA). The game had to be moved because the HPCA Stadium's relaid pitch was having problems.
Its one Test was held at Dharamshala in 2017. By the way, Australia and India also competed in that match. In 2016 and 2019, India defeated New Zealand and Bangladesh respectively in two Test matches played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium.
India has a strong history at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. Prior to crushing New Zealand by an innings and 130 runs in 2019, the host team destroyed Bangladesh by 321 runs.
India defeated Australia convincingly in Nagpur to take a 1-0 series lead.
The Australian batsmen were unable to handle the spin combo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who combined took 15 of the 20 wickets in the first Test in Nagpur, which was over in three days.
The visitors managed to earn 177 points in the first innings after winning the toss and choosing to bat. India bowled out Australia for 91 runs in the second innings over a single session to win the Test by an innings and 132 runs after increasing their lead to almost 200 runs.
Jadeja was named Player of the Match for his 70 runs with the willow and 7-81 bowling statistics.
Australia will be trying to bounce back in Delhi for the second match, which will be contested at Arun Jaitley Stadium and begin on Friday after an enormous defeat in the first Test.
Australia, which presently leads the ICC World Test Championship rankings, must avoid losing against India by a score of 4-0 in order to advance to the June final at The Oval.
The schedule for the remaining three Tests is as below: February 17-21: 2nd Test, New Delhi. March 1-5: 3rd Test, Indore - March 9-13: 4th Test, Ahmedabad.
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