Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed the decision of the BCCI to exclude Eden Gardens from hosting any matches in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in the 2026-27 home season. The highly anticipated Test series is set to be played between January 21 and February 25, 2027. The matches will be hosted at Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi, and Ahmedabad.

Eden Gardens is set to miss out on hosting a Test match despite being one of the premier grounds in India, along with Mumbai. The decision has sparked debate and discussion among cricket fans and former cricketers, though Sourav Ganguly has backed the decision.

Ganguly told Sportstar:

“It’s always great to have big Test matches back at Eden Gardens. As the president of the CAB and being a former player, I would like to host Test matches here, but we got the Test against South Africa, then there were T20 World Cup games and the Indian Premier League fixtures.”

With the 2026-27 home season already filled with multiple series against the West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and Australia, the BCCI has adopted a venue rotation approach to accommodate matches across various locations, including new Test centres like Guwahati and Ranchi.

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Ganguly emphasized that while Eden Gardens holds a special place, it's crucial to bring the game to other cities as well.

He stated:

“But Stadiums all around India are very good. I am so happy to see a Test match at Chennai, then there are matches at Guwahati and Ranchi, where the facilities are very good. As much as you would like to host matches at the Eden, it is important to understand that it has to go to other venues as well.”

While Kolkata and Mumbai have been left out of the Test series against Australia, they will host games in the white-ball format this season.

The omission of the Test venues from the high-profile series has sparked debate on the venues for international games. Former spinner Venkatapathy Raju of India offered his views on the issue:

“Back in our time, we had five Test venues - Kolkata, Kanpur, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai - and it had its own charm. I think they should go back to that format again.”

He added:

“Hosting T20Is and ODIs are alright, but playing in these five Test centres is always special. Playing at a venue like Eden is always a privilege, because of the huge crowd support.”

For now, the BCCI's priority appears to be extending opportunities to a wider range of venues across the country, and Ganguly's comment.