India is set to have three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs starting November 21. Here is the schedule of the tour starting later this year.
| November 21 | 1st T20I | Gabba, Brisbane |
| November 23 | 2nd T20I | MCG, Melbourne |
| November 25 | 3rd T20I | SCG, Sydney |
| December 6-10 | 1st Test | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| December 14-18 | 2nd Test | Perth Stadium, Perth |
| December 26-30 | 3rd Test | MCG, Melbourne |
| January 3-7 | 4th Test | SCG, Sydney |
| January 12 | 1st ODI | SCG, Sydney |
| January 15 | 2nd ODI | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| January 18 | 3rd ODI | MCG, Melbourne |
What was the actual plan?
Last month, the BCCI had stated that the Day-Night Test will only be decided upon after the approval of the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). BCCI secretary Amitabh Chaudhary had vouched for the pink-ball Test. He even claimed that the CoA had agreed to host one D/N Test against West Indies.
BCCI changes its stance
Citing that the ICC has not included the pink-ball Test in the upcoming Test Championship post the 2019 World Cup, therefore, the BCCI had changed its stance.The BCCI stated on April 21, that it does not see any reason to host a Day-Night Test against West Indies anymore. The board also added that India will not play any pink-ball Test during the upcoming tour of Australia.
India keen to continue fine spell at Adelaide
Adelaide has been a happy hunting ground for India in Tests, where performances have been noteworthy. Therefore, the BCCI wants normal Day Tests like before rather than experimenting with the pink ball. The Aussies were keen to hold a Day-Night Test signals that there could be much at stake for them to convince BCCI.
What does the series bring?
India is currently number one in the Test rankings and recent performances in South Africa showed they will be better placed to do something noteworthy this time around in Australia. But the England series will be a massive test for Virat Kohli’s men and if they come out strong, expect a better show against a Steve Smith, David Warner-less Aussies.
Australia won the Ashes 2017-18 comfortably and despite not having the run-machine Smith, they would want their quicks to come good and rip apart Indian batting. The contest between Kohli against the Aussie pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will be pivotal.
India’s pacers did a commendable job in South Africa picking a flurry of wickets, and they will once again be the positive factor for the visitors.
Past battles
India has toured Australia on 11 occasions and have failed to win a Test series there. Aussies have won eight Tests and three have been drawn. The last drawn Test came in 2003-04 under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.
Since then India has lost on all three occasions. The last two Test series saw India losing six out of the eight Tests played. In the 2014-15 Test series, India’s Virat Kohli amassed 692 runs at an average of 86.50. He had smashed four hundreds and a fifty.
Banned Aussie player Steve Smith was a thorn for India back then, scoring 769 runs and helping his side win. Can India go on to pull off a miracle this time? Only time will tell.
