The most significant rivalries in modern-day cricket, India and Australia are all set to face each other in the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy as the fixtures, and the venues for the four-Test series have been finalised.
Australia’s Test summer will kick-off with a single Test against Afghanistan in November at Perth. After that, the Gabba will host the opening match of a highly anticipated India-Australia Test series in the first week of December.
Cricket Australia (CA) will on Friday announce the full men’s and women’s international schedule for the 2020-21 summer.
Australia holds an unbeaten record at the Gabba. In fact, it’s the longest unbeaten streak for the Aussies in Test cricket. Back in 1988, Australia lost the match at this venue against the then West Indies team. Since then, captains like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith and Tim Paine have all maintained the undefeated legacy. The Kangaroos have played 31 matches at the Gabba since that defeat and won 24 games. Remaining seven have resulted in a draw.
After Gabba, both Australia and India will meet at Adelaide Oval for the Day-Night Test. Similarly, the third match is scheduled to be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It will be a Boxing-Day Test. Next year in January, India and Australia will lock the horns at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Here are the fixtures for Border-Gavaskar series:
- First Test: The Gabba, December 3-7
- Second Test (D/N): Adelaide Oval, December 11-15
- Third Test: Melbourne Cricket Ground, December 26-30
- Fourth Test: Sydney Cricket Ground, January 3-7
Earlier, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had said that India would take all the possible precautions, which include the 14-day isolation period, in order to make sure the series takes place without any problem.
“There is no choice – everyone will have to do that. You would want to resume cricket. Two weeks is not that long a lockdown. That would be ideal for any sportsman because when you are in quarantine for such a long period, then going to another country and having a two-week lockdown it would be a good thing to do. We’ll have to see what the norms are post this lockdown,” Dhumal had said.
