“Vizag and Rajkot hold status quo” – Ravichandran Ashwin reacts as BCCI releases schedule for England tour of India 2024

Ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has reacted to the venues picked for the upcoming England tour of India 2024, which will be played from January to March next year.

The 36-year-old pointed out that Rajkot and Vizag have been included once again in the five-match Test series against England after 2016-17. That came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India released the schedule for the international home season 2023-24 under the ongoing World Test Championship (2023-25) cycle.

Ashwin tweeted:

“5 tests against England 2024: Hyderabad, Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, Dharamshala.”

He added in the same tweet:

“2016/17: Rajkot, Vizag, Mohali, Mumbai, Chennai. Vizag and Rajkot hold status quo. Should be a good series.”

For the uninitiated, Rajkot and Vizag hosted the first and second Test against England in the 2016/17 series. The opening Test ended in a draw, while India won the second by 246 runs and the next three to win the series 4-0. Ashwin was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 28 wickets in five games.

As far as the venues of the upcoming series are concerned, Ashwin has picked 16 wickets in two Tests in Vizag and nine in Rajkot.

The off-spinner was last in action during the recently concluded two-Test series in West Indies, which India won 1-0. Ashwin scalped 13 wickets in two Tests, including two five-wicket hauls in the first game, which the visitors won by an innings and 141 runs.

Ashwin is likely to next be in action during the two-Test series against South Africa later this year. The Chennai-born spinner will look to become the only second spinner to complete 500 wickets for India in Tests, behind former captain Anil Kumble (619).

He has scalped 489 wickets in 94 Tests. Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) are the two leading Test wicket-takers among spinners in the all-time list.

Ashwin has been equally handy with the bat. He has scored 3185 runs at an average of 27.22, including five tons and 14 half-centuries.

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England tour of India 2024 schedule

1st Test: Jan 24-29 (Hyderabad)

2nd Test: Feb 2-6 (Vizag)

3rd Test: Feb 15-24 (Rajkot)

4th Test: Feb 23-27 (Ranchi)

5th Test: March 7-11 (Dharamsala)