England will play four Test matches instead of five, as was initially scheduled, on its 2021 tour of India, Indian cricket board president Sourav Ganguly said on Tuesday.

Two additional T20Is have been added to the tour which will be held ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in October-November. England’s tour of India is scheduled for February-March. The India vs England Test series will be also a part of ICC World Test Championship while the ODI rubber will be part of ICC Cricket World Cup Super Series. 

“England is touring India for four Test matches, three ODIs, and five T20Is,” Ganguly said at a virtual event. “It is easier to have bilaterals than having eight-nine-10 teams, which gets difficult, but we have to keep assessing the situation,” he said.

“A lot of people are talking about the second Covid wave. We’re already hearing of cases being on the rise again in Mumbai and Delhi, so we have to be careful and make sure everything is in order.”

England was originally set to tour India for three T20Is and as many ODIs in September, but that was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic