India women's home series against Australia as precursor to ODI WC moved from Chennai, new venues announced

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the change in venues for the three-match ODI series between India women and Australia ahead of the home World Cup in September-October. All three matches of the series were scheduled to take place at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, but due to the "revamping of the outfield and pitches" at the venue, the BCCI announced Mullanpur and Delhi as the venue for the three games.

The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur will be the host for the first two games of the series on September 14 and 17, while the third and final match will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital on September 20.

Mullanpur recently hosted the first two matches of the IPL playoffs and within a year, has become a preferred place for the BCCI to host



high-profile matches in Chandigarh. Earlier, Mullanpur was reportedly set to host a few matches of the Women's World Cup, including the final, but after several protests and requests from the fans and stakeholders, Bengaluru was inducted as the venue.

Along with the third and final match of the India-Australia women's series, the Test match for the men's team, earlier scheduled in Delhi against South Africa in November, has now been swapped with the Kolkata Test against the West in October. With the capital experiencing high AQI due to rising pollution levels at that time of the year, the decision was taken. Kolkata will be hosting a first Test in six years.

As for the Women's World Cup, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Indore, Guwahati and Colombo were finalised as the five venues for the tournament, which runs from September 30-November 2.