NEW DELHI: India and Australia are set to cross swords in the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the first Test starting in Perth on November 22. The two sides will clash in five Test matches that are instrumental in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.
Team India would be eyeing their third successive Test series win on the trot in Australia and the Aussies would be looking to go all guns blazing to stop the Indians in their bid to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Also See: Cricket Live ScoreIndia Need to Take a Big Call on the Pace Bowling Department for Perth Test
India need to win four Tests in Australia to directly qualify for the World Test Championships final that is scheduled to be held at Lord's in June 2025.
Also See:Live Cricket ScoreAustralia have not defeated India in a home Test series since 2014-15, losing both the 2018-19 and 2020-21 series.
Australia defeated India in the World Test Championship final and in the 50-overs World Cup final last year.
This will the first five-Test series between the two sides in more than 30 years.
Here is the full schedule of the Test series:
1st TestIndia likely to hand two debuts in first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test vs Australia in Perth
Perth will host the first Test of the series from November 22.
The match is scheduled to start at 7:50 AM IST.
Also See:Border Gavaskar Trophy2nd TestThe series' second game will take place as a day-night Test in Adelaide on December 6.
The match is scheduled to start at 9:30 AM IST.
3rd TestThe third game will take place at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 14.
The match is scheduled to start at 5:50 AM IST.
4th TestThe fourth game will take place in Melbourne on December 26 - traditionally known as the Boxing Day Test.
The match is scheduled to start at 5:00 AM IST.
5th TestThe series will conclude with the customary New Year's Test in Sydney that will start from January 3.
The match is scheduled to start at 5:00 AM IST.
The unavailability of captain
Rohit Sharma and No. 3 bat Shumban Gill (fracture in the finger) from the first Test against Australia forced the BCCI on Sunday to ask top-order batsman Devdutt Padikkal, who was touring with the India A squad for two four-day matches, to stay back as a batting back-up.
Pace spearhead and vice-captain
Jasprit Bumrah will captain India in absence of Rohit, who informed the BCCI that he needed more time with his wife after the birth of their second child earlier this week.
Paddikal will be added to the 18-member squad in Rohit's place for the first Test match at the Opus Stadium in Perth.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill,
Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin,
Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed (replaced by Yash Dayal)
Australia squad for 1st Test: Pat Cummins (Capt.), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc