India are scheduled to play five ODIs and one T20I against the West Indies in June-July, BCCI has confirmed. The tour to the Caribbean will come just days after the Champions Trophy in England. The five-match ODI series is slated to begin on June 23, with the first two games to be played at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. While the third and fourth ODI will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, the final ODI and the solitary T20I will be played at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
This assignment will immediately follow the Champions Trophy which takes place from June 1 to 18. India had similarly toured the Caribbean even in 2013, after a successful Champions Trophy campaign in England. At that time, after a similar five-day break, India went on to win the tri-series which involved Sri Lanka as well.
While India will hope to defend their crown in the upcoming eight-nation tournament, West Indies won't even be involved, having failed to qualify on the basis of their ODI ranking. In fact, this ODI tour has massive bearing for the hosts in their pursuit of direct qualification for the 2019 ODI World Cup.
West Indies are currently ninth in the ICC ODI rankings, nine rating points behind Pakistan. They have until September 30 this year - the cut-off for the top eight spots for the World Cup to be sealed. Within that time, West Indies will have the opportunity to gain ground with ODI assignments lined up against India, Afghanistan and England.
Itinerary
1st ODI, Queen's Park Oval, June 23
2nd ODI, Queen's Park Oval, June 25
3rd ODI, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, June 30
4th ODI, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, July 2
5th ODI, Sabina Park, July 6
Only T20I, Sabina Park, July 9
