Cricket Australia, on Tuesday (March 26), unveiled the IND vs AUS Test schedule for the 2024-25 season. India who will play five Tests from November 22 to January 7 with the first Test set to take place in Perth.
The five-match Test series is the showpiece event of Australia’s summer. The second Test will be a day-night affair to be played with pink ball at the Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. The caravan will move the Gabba in Brisbane, the venue that will host the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The tradition Boxing Day Test will continue to be played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26 while the New Year Test too traditionally will take place at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 3 to 7.
IND vs AUS Test schedule for 2024/25
First Test – November 22-26: Perth Stadium, Perth
Second Test – December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Third Test – December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane
Fourth Test – December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne
Fifth Test – January 3-7: SCG, Sydney
India’s first ever five-match Test series against Australia will conclude on January 7, 2025. Interestingly, Perth has been preferred over Brisbane for the first Test of the summer this time around. According to Peter Roach, CA's head of scheduling, the decision was taken keeping in mind the timezone especially for the Indian fans from where the viewership is massive
He also noted that the IND vs AUS Test schedule is also made from the advice of the team who prefer specific venues to start their summer where they are comfortably to play and have good record. “The clear advice from our national team is that there is a preference to start series strongly at venues where they're really comfortable and Perth and Brisbane they believe are somewhat comparable in terms of the advantage they get out of that.
“They're the hardest and bounciest pitches in Australia. They also believe that playing day-night Tests in Adelaide is a significant advantage and the stats there are pretty conclusive too.
“So they will look at this schedule and some will say Gabba first would have been better than Perth. Others will say Perth then Gabba. I think that gap has really closed in recent times and the way our players think about that, and having Adelaide as the day-night Test, they'll be really buoyed about that again. So we're really comfortable that this gives us a great opportunity to compete with a really strong Indian team,” he said.
Apart from India, Australia are also set to host Pakistan for six white-ball matches after playing hosts to them for three Tests last summer. The Pakistan series will take place before team India travels down under with the ODI series starting at MCG on November 4. Pakistan’s tour to Australia will conclude on November 18 four days before the first Test between the hosts and India.
