NEW DELHI: Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday that Perth will host the first Test of the highly anticipated five-match India-Australia series in November. The series will conclude with the customary New Year's Test in Sydney.
On November 22, the sides' first five-Test series in more than 30 years will begin at Perth Stadium.
The series' second game will take place as a day-night Test in Adelaide on December 6, the third game will take place at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 14, and the fourth game will take place in Melbourne on December 26-traditionally known as "Boxing Day."
Australia 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.
The itinerary for the Women's Ashes between Australia and England, which begins with an ODI in Sydney on January 12, was also released by Cricket Australia.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host a one-time, day-night Test on January 30 to conclude the Ashes. This will be the stadium's first pink ball international.
"One of the most important factors behind awarding Perth the hosting rights for the first Test over Brisbane was the friendly broadcast time zone for viewers of both countries," said Peter Roach, CA's head of scheduling.
"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 said.
1/10:Border-Gavaskar Trophy series schedule announced
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2/10:India vs Australia
<p>Perth will host the first match of a blockbuster five-Test series between India and Australia from November 22, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Tuesday.</p>Getty Images
3/10:Adelaide Oval
<p>The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series will then move to Adelaide Oval for a day-night Test. </p>Getty Images
4/10:Brisbane's Gabba
<p>The 3rd Test will be at Brisbane's Gabba, which traditionally was the opening venue of Australia's Test summer. </p>Getty Images
5/10:Melbourne Cricket Ground
<p>The Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Ajinkya Rahane had led India to a superb comeback victory in the 2020-21 series, will stage the traditional Boxing Day Test. </p>Getty Images
6/10:Sydney Cricket Ground
<p>The Sydney Cricket Ground, where India secured a draw against all odds in 2020-21, will stage the last Test of the series on January 3. </p>Getty Images
7/10:India undefeated
<p>Australia have not defeated India in a home Test series since 2014-15, losing both the 2018-19 and 2020-21 series. </p>Getty Images
8/10:World Test Championship final
<p>Australia defeated India in the World Test Championship final and in the ODI World Cup final last year. </p>Getty Images
9/10:Aussies at Perth
<p>Australia have also won all four previous Tests at Perth Stadium. </p>Getty Images
10/10:India's greatest series win
<p>On their previous tour, India had lost the pink ball Test badly before bouncing back to pull off one of their greatest series triumphs. </p>Getty Images"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."
According to Roach, the Optus Stadium, where Australia have won all four Tests, is now comparable to the Gabba.
"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," Roach said.
On their previous tour, India had lost the pink ball Test badly before bouncing back to pull off one of their greatest series triumphs.
(With agencies inputs)
