India set dates for Australia showdown

Australia's first Test in the pivotal series against India is scheduled to start the day after the final Twenty20 international of the home summer, India authorities announced today.

The scheduling crunch means Australia's multi-format stars such as captain Steve Smith, batsman David Warner and fast bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc will unavoidably miss the three T20s against Sri Lanka in February.

Indeed, many of Australia's leading players are likely to be away from home for the majority of the first six months of 2017. Australia will play three Chappell-Hadlee one-day matches in New Zealand in early February, after which the Test players are likely to head directly to India.

The Indian Premier League will follow the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Series, before Australia will be seeking to win the ICC Champions Trophy for a record third time when it is held in England and Wales in mid-winter.

A potential trip to Bangladesh for Tests and one-day internationals looms in August after the series scheduled for late 2015 was postponed amid security concerns, with a one-day series in India in October before a highly anticipated home Ashes campaign.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India had previously confirmed venues for the four Tests Australia play in February and March, but today confirmed exact dates and the full schedule.

Australia will seek to overturn their subcontinental woes and begin their defence of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Pune on February 23, before travelling to Bangalore for the second Test starting March 4, Ranchi for the third Test starting March 16 and the series finale at the picturesque Dharamsala, in the Himalayan foothills, from March 25.

Three of the venues have never hosted Test cricket before. Australia has previously played five Tests in Bangalore, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the most recent of which was in October 2010, when a double-century from Sachin Tendulkar inspired India to a seven-wicket win.

Australia holds the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a 2-0 win in the four-Test series at home in 2014-15. That was an emotion-charged series following the death of Phillip Hughes just prior to the series' scheduled start.

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In an eventful series, Steve Smith became Australia's 45th Test captain – in an interim capacity at least- following Michael Clarke's back and hamstring injuries in the first Test at Adelaide.

India captain MS Dhoni then unexpectedly quit Test cricket after the Boxing Day Test, with Virat Kohli taking the reins.

Smith and Kohli were in remarkable form throughout that series – the Australian scoring an incredible 769 runs while Kohli added 692 of his own.

Steve Waugh once labelled winning in India Australia's "final frontier" and following the Test team's disastrous performance against Sri Lanka earlier this year, there is no doubting the challenge they face against an Indian side newly crowned as the world's best.

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To assist preparations, Cricket Australia has constructed specialised 'spin pitches' at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.

Baked red clay from central Queensland has been used to construct a pitch designed to replicate the Chennai surface – a venue the BCCI has scheduled England to visit rather than Australia.

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Australia's visit is part of a mammoth 13-Test 2016-17 home season for Indian cricket. The side has already beaten New Zealand 3-0 at home, and will face England for five Tests before Australia arrive, with a one-off Test against Bangladesh to follow.

New Zealand lost the three Test matches as Ravi Ashwin shot back to the top of the world bowling rankings, and have a one-nil lead in the one-day series that has the New Zealanders worried they've forgotten what winning feels like.

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Alastair Cook and the Barmy Army are India's next contenders, arriving en masse for a five-Test series as well as three ODIs and three T20s.

Qantas Tour of India

First Test: February 23 - 27, Pune
Second Test: March 4 - 8, Bangalore
Third Test: March 16 - 20, Ranchi
Fourth Test: March 25 - 29, Dharamsala