India Set for Historic 2024 Test Series Against Australia

Later this year, between the first two tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the visiting Indian cricket team will face Australia’s Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day day-night tour match. Five Test series between Australia and India will start in Perth on November 22. The two heavyweights will play a series of five Test matches against one other for the first time since the 1991–92 season. 

On their website, Cricket Australia has scheduled a day-night tour match between the Indian side and the Prime Minister XI at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on November 30 and December 1. To help the Indian team prepare for the day-night Test in Adelaide, the fixture has been added to the calendar after they played one similar match on their previous visit in 2020–21.

India vs. Australia: First Test Series Since 1991-92

“Even though it’s the fourth time India has faced a PM’s XI in Australia, the match has never been played over two days; the first 48 matches (against visiting teams and the ATSIC Chairman’s XI) dating back to 1951 were one-day matches,” Cricket Australia said. Commencing in Perth on November 22, the five-Test series will be the first between these two titans of cricket since the 1991–92 season, making it a historic occasion.

“India’s bid to avoid a repeat of the batting horror show they endured in their previous pink-ball Test appearance in Australia has been bolstered by the scheduling a day-night fixture against a Prime Minister’s XI at Manuka Oval,” the release from the CA stated. The purpose of adding this extra game is to give the Indian team a vital head start on the day-night Test during the tour.

Before the first Test, India will warm up intrasquad at the WACA from November 15–18. After a three-match home Test series against New Zealand, they will go to Australia. Only four day-night Test matches have been played by India overall; the most recent one was in Bengaluru, Sri Lanka, in 2022. Australia has played in 12 matches, all of them at home. Their only loss in the pink ball came in Brisbane last season when they lost by eight runs to the West Indies.

Australian PM to Meet Selectors

The last time the Prime Minister’s XI played an Indian team was in 2004 when Steve Waugh’s group played against Rahul Dravid‘s squad. To discuss the makeup of the squad, the Australian Prime Minister will meet with George Bailey, the chairman of selectors, and Tony Dodemaide, a selector. For the first time in over 30 years, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match will be decided over five Tests. Both teams will be vying for a spot in the ICC World Test Championship final the following year, so this series is very important.

Australia will be looking to defend their title when the next one-off Test is held at Lord’s in 2025. They defeated India by 209 runs at The Oval last year to earn their first-ever World Test Championship. India is now leading the World Test Championship rankings by a small margin, with Australia in second position, according to the ICC. Here’s the schedule of the IND vs. AUS test series:

First Test: Perth, November 22–26

Second Test: Adelaide, December 6–10.

Third Test: Brisbane, December 14–18

Fourth Test: Melbourne, December 26–30

Fifth Test: Sydney, January 3–7.