The third Test match between India and Australia of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series is likely to be shifted out of Dharamsala. The match is scheduled to be played from March 1 to March 5. However, the final decision regarding the venue will be given by BCCI over the next few days.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Dharamsala might not yet be fit to host international cricket after a recent renovation and the BCCI will take a final call based on the outcome of an inspection of the ground to be conducted by the board's team of experts.
The BCCI has already shortlisted a backup venue to replace Dharamsala but will only declare if the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium is ruled out. The shortlisted venues include Pune, Visakhapatnam, Indore, and Rajkot.
The last time an international game was played in Dharamsala was back in February of the previous year during T20I between India and Sri Lanka. It is understood that the outfield still is not ready, and is interspersed with bald patches where the grass cover has not taken hold yet.
Ticket sales have not been started for the last two Test matches.
India vs Australia: Test Series Schedule
- 1st Test: Feb 09 - Feb 13 at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
- 2nd Test: Feb 17 - Feb 21 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
- 3rd Test: Mar 01 - Mar 05 at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
- 4th Test: Mar 09 - Mar 13, Monat Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Full Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja
Australia: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
