Australia-India Five Test Blockbuster to Take Place in Late November: Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
India to tour Australia in late November this year for the Iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
With the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy set to start in Perth on November 22 of this year, Perth Stadium has overtaken the Gabba as Australia‘s favorite location for the first Test. From there, the series will travel to Adelaide for the day-night Test, Brisbane, Melbourne for Boxing Day, and Sydney for the New Year’s Test.
In November, Australia will play white-ball cricket against Pakistan, and a schedule has been developed to support the BBL.
Cricket Australia released their summer international calendar, featuring the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as the highlight of the program. Following Perth, the second Test will take place at Adelaide Oval from December 6–10, with day and night pink-ball play. Brisbane will host the third Test from December 14–18. The customary Boxing Day test date of December 26 at the MCG will host the fourth test, and the SCG will host the fifth test beginning on January 3.
Despite India winning the series, Australia has an impeccable record in Perth’s newest stadium, having won four of the last five Tests played there, the first of which was against India in December 2018. During the 2020–21 series, which India also won when the final Test was played in Brisbane, Perth did not host a Test match between Australia and India.
The decision to give Perth the first Test against Brisbane was made for a number of reasons, according to CA’s head of scheduling Peter Roach, with the favorable broadcast timeslot for viewers in India and Australia’s east coast serving as the decisive factor.
“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,” Roach stated. “In Australia, these are the smoothest, most resilient pitches. Additionally, they think that having day-night Test matches in Adelaide is a big benefit, and the data there is also highly convincing.
“After looking at this schedule, some will argue that Perth should have come first, but Gabba first.” Some will say Gabba first, then Perth. Because Adelaide is the day-night Test, our players will be extremely encouraged by the fact that the distance has narrowed recently, in my opinion. We therefore feel quite confident that this presents us with a fantastic opportunity to fight against a very formidable Indian squad.”
Christina Matthews, the CEO of WA Cricket, is hoping for a large crowd in Perth following low attendances in previous years, even though she would have preferred to host the Test before Christmas.
In an interview that will be released later this week, Matthews stated to ESPNcricinfo, “I would be looking at crowds of 30–35,000 on day one [for India].” “Securing a time slot on the calendar is crucial. We would prefer the final Test to be held before Christmas.
However, it makes things easier for everyone to organize if we know when it will be, especially if it’s the first Test like we’ve had [the previous two years]. The most crucial thing is to determine if it’s the first or third test of the summer each year.
There will be a nine-day break between the first two Test matches, even though Australia intends to start with Perth and Adelaide in order to maximize their advantage. It is thought that the BCCI is eager to use that time to give India’s players some targeted pink-ball practise, and possibilities regarding the scheduling of match practise are being considered. It is planned to hold a Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra, however it is unclear if this would happen before or after the first Test.
BBL Timeframe, but Problems with Availability will Persist
Given that the Perth matches are played at night and the Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney Tests are played during the day, the decision to start with Perth and then the day-night Test also creates a window of opportunity for the BBL to commence after December 10.
Because to the Perth Test between Australia and Pakistan in late December of last year, CA had to postpone the BBL for five days early in the season. After the BBL had finished, the Adelaide Test match against the West Indies was played during the day in mid-January, followed by the day-night Test match in Brisbane.
With Australia’s Test players expected to be available for a few weeks following the conclusion of the Sydney Test on January 7, the BBL is expected to commence during the three-day break between the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests and continue until Australia Day on January 26.
But Australia’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, which is slated for late January or early February, may force some players to withdraw from the BBL finals because a seven- to ten-day build-up is preferred so that players can get used to the conditions. The tour’s dates in Sri Lanka have not yet been revealed. After the Sri Lankan tour, Australia’s ODI players will probably fly straight to the Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to begin on February 19.
Australia Will Host Pakistan as Well
In early November, Australia will play host to Pakistan for three Twenty20 Internationals and three One-Day Internationals before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts. The ODI series is probably Australia’s final official ODI series before the Champions Trophy kicks off in Pakistan. It will be part of both teams’ preparation for the competition.
On Monday, November 4, the evening before Victoria’s public holiday commemorating the Melbourne Cup, the ODI series will begin at the MCG. After that, on November 8, the series will proceed to Adelaide, and on November 10, it will conclude in Perth.
None of Australia’s Test players are expected to play in the T20I series since it will take place in close proximity to the Test series against India. By the time the November series commences after the T20 World Cup in June, there will be a substantial turnover in Australia’s T20I team, and the country will probably use the series to groom younger T20I specialists for upcoming World Cups.
The first Test match of the series against India begins in Perth barely four days after the series finale in Hobart on November 18.
The women’s T20I during the multiformat Ashes will precede a historic day-night, four-day Test between Australia and England at the MCG beginning on January 30, which will commemorate the 90th anniversary of women’s Test cricket. However, there will be no men’s international match in Canberra next summer.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
1st Test: 22-26 November; Perth Stadium, Perth
2nd Test: 6-10 December; Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (D/N)
3rd Test: 14-18 December; The Gabba, Brisbane
4th Test: 26-30 December; MCG, Melbourne
5th Test: 3-7 January 2025; SCG, Sydney
