Wankhede to host Tendulkar's 200th Test, Kolkata gets 199th

The Wankhede stadium in Mumbai will host Sachin Tendulkar's landmark 200th and final Test with the BCCI today acceding to the legendary batsman's wish to play his farewell match in front of his home crowd.
The BCCI's Programmes and Fixtures committee, headed by Rajiv Shukla, today chalked out the detailed schedule of the hastily-arranged series against the West Indies, comprising two Tests and three one-dayers to be held next month.
"Tendulkar had requested that the 200th Test match should be given to Mumbai, so that his mother could also watch the match. The BCCI president and BCCI thought about it and accepted it. Keeping that sentiment in mind, it has been allocated to Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai (scheduled from November 14-18)," Shukla told reporters here.

The Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the opening clash of the series from November 6 to 10 and like Wankhede, gets an 'out-of-turn' Test match as according to the BCCI's rotational policy, it was actually Bangalore and Ahmedabad's turn.
"The committee decided to give the first Test match against West Indies to Kolkata," he said.
Explaining the rationale to have the first Test in Kolkata, Shukla said, "Since both the Test matches are going to be important, it requires a bigger venue. A stadium which is large, that is why the first Test match has been given to Kolkata."

The Caribbean side will also play three ODIs slated for November 21, 24 and 27. The venues for the first two One-day Internationals will be Kochi and Visakhapatnam, respectively, while the third could either be held at Kanpur or Baroda.
"Out of three ODIs, two ODI venues have been decided as Kochi and Vizag. The third ODI is between Kanpur and Baroda, subject to technical clearance and that is why the inspection team will go to Kanpur," said Shukla.