Ahmedabad and Mumbai to host England Tests

Ahmedabad and Mumbai will host the two Test matches on England's tour of India in the last two months of 2008. The Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee of the Indian board also announced the venues for the seven one-day internationals: Delhi, Indore, Rajkot, Jamshedpur, Cuttack, Guwahati and Kanpur will host the matches, but the final itinerary will only be decided later.

This is the first time a full series between India and England will consist of just two Tests. India had toured England for a solitary Test way back in 1932, when they made their Test debut, while there was a one-off Golden Jubilee Test in 1980, but apart from those two instances, all series between the two teams have consisted of at least three Tests. (Click here for a list of all Test series between the two teams.)

The last time England toured India for a Test series was in 2005-06, when England lost the second Test in Mohali, but then hit back to win the third and level the series.