India expand schedule with new matches for upcoming Australia tour

After the conclusion of the ongoing home season, Team India will visit Australia for the bumper five-match Test series. It will be India's last assignment in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship.

India won the last two Test series in Australia and will be looking to win the upcoming series as well. India have not lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since winning the home series in 2017 and will be looking to extend their domination over Australia.

The upcoming series will also be the first meeting in Tests between the two teams since the WTC final last year. Australia had inflicted a heavy defeat on India in the WTC final and the latter will also be desperate to avenge that loss by winning another Test series Down Under.

To prepare for the challenging series, the Indian team has decided against playing any Australian team in the practice matches before the start of the series. The Times of India has reported that Rohit Sharma & Co. will leave for Australia at least two weeks before the first Test, scheduled to start on November 22 in Perth.

India to face India A ahead of Australia Tests:

The reigning Border-Gavaskar Trophy winners will be playing one or two intra-squad matches against India 'A' in order to prepare for the series, as per PTI. India's three-match Test series against New Zealand is scheduled to end on November 5 if the third and final Test in Mumbai goes into the final day.

Soon after the completion of the Test, the Indian team will be leaving for Australia. Just like it happened during the tour of South Africa a few months ago, the BCCI could conduct a four-day game between India and India A.

India A will be in Australia during that time for a couple of A Tests. The A team will be leaving India for Australia on October 25. In recent years, the BCCI has preferred intra-squad games or matches against the 'A' side to give the Indian team good preparations ahead of any challenging tour.

In 2021 before the WTC final against New Zealand, the Indian team had first introduced the concept of intra-squad games. At that time, the A team shadow tours were stopped due to the pandemic. However, when the A team toured South Africa in the 2023-24 season, the Indian team faced them in a practice game.

"Normally, home countries nowadays don't want to provide their best domestic talent for practice. It always helps in quality match practice if a bunch of India hopefuls are pitted against the stars. These are players knocking on the doors and eager to perform," a BCCI insider told the news outlet.

The Indian team is also set to play a practice game before the second Test in Adelaide which is a pink ball affair. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be playing a two-day day/night pink ball game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on November 30 and December 1 against Prime Minister's XI.