After much speculation, BCCI gave the nod to send its players to Australia later this year for the impending Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Last time around India went on to create history by becoming the first Asian side to win a Test series in Australia.
The Indian Test team defeated the Aussies in their own backward by a margin of 2-1. Albeit, against a frail batting unit, in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner who were serving their ban period.
For this summer, Cricket Australia released its schedule and the four venues to host the Test matches. The first Test will be played at The Gabba in Brisbane starting December 3.
Interestingly, Brisbane was chosen ahead of the two arenas in Perth for which authorities at WACA raised issues with.
The second Test will be a Day-Night pink-ball affair at Adelaide Cricket Ground under lights. The third Test will be the traditional ‘Boxing Day’ Test match hosted at the mammoth Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26.
As usual, the last and final Test match of the series will be hosted by the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 3, 2021 onwards.
Indian batsman Rohit Sharma who displayed flashes of brilliance the last time India went Down Under, recently conducted a Q&A session though Instagram stories.
There, he was asked by one of his followers, “how prepared are you to play a pink ball test match in Australia because you haven’t opened. Ur mindset?”
In reply, Rohit wrote, “will be challenging for sure. “This will be the first time India will play a Day-Night Test match in Australia, where the ball is renowned for getting eccentric during the twilight phase.
India played its first-ever D/N Test match last year at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, popularly known as the ‘Pink Test’. There, India beat Bangladesh comprehensively by an innings and 46 runs.
During the historic game, the evidence of the lethal movement which can be attained using a pink ball was demonstrated by fast-bowlers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. The pacers picked 17 wickets in tandem, out of the 20 Bangladeshi wickets in the match.
