The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently revealed the dates for the 2026-27 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This iconic series will be played between India and Australia, and the 2027 edition will be hosted by the former country. When these teams last met in this series, in Australia in 2024-25, the Indians were defeated by a 1-3 scoreline. That was also the first time the Aussies got their hands on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in a decade.
The upcoming 2027 series will begin with a match in Nagpur, followed by games in Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad. Notably, the BCCI has done away with the traditional Test centres like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru for this series. Guwahati only recently hosted its maiden Test, between India and South Africa (in which the hosts were routed) and is slated to hold its second.
India, recently, have held sway over the Aussies in this series. They've given their opponents very little room to manoeuvre themselves in. The last time Australia won a Test series in India was in 2004-05, and hence, a mountain of a task awaits Pat Cummins' men. However, what will worry India is the fact that their dominance in home conditions seems to be ebbing. They have lost five out of their last nine Tests at home since the start of the 2024-25 season.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir will be worried by not having a good record in this format, despite winning the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC T20 World Cup. Hence, this will be a good test for Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill, who has been tasked with the responsibility of leading India into the next decade. Australia will not have much time to prepare for this series since they will finish a home Test with New Zealand on January 8, before playing the first game in Nagpur on January 21.
The schedule:
- First Test: January 21-25, VCA Stadium, Nagpur
- Second Test: January 29-February 2, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- Third Test: February 11-15, ACA Stadium, Guwahati
- Fourth Test: February 19-23, JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi
- Fifth Test: February 27-March 3, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad