India reveal new head coach

Anil Kumble has been appointed the new head coach of the Indian cricket team on a one-year contract, beating the likes of Ravi Shastri and Australians Tom Moody and Stuart Law to the top post.

Kumble's first assignment will be India's away series in the West Indies for a four-Test series. 

"Given to his immense knowledge and experience, the BCCI is confident that Mr Kumble will take Indian cricket forward and contribute to its growth and success," the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced in a statement. 

"The Board is confident that Mr Kumble will meet the consistent high standards of professionalism set by the Indian team and fulfills the expectations of the followers of Indian Cricket."  

India's long-standing search for a full-time head coach came to an end at the BCCI's first annual conclave in Dharamasala. The coach was picked from 57 applications by a panel that included Kumble's former teammates Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.

The appointment comes as somewhat of a shock with reports that Kumble's name was not in the original "shortlist" of 21 names the BCCI passed to the panel, but his application was still heard and the former captain and leg-spinner made an impressive presentation as one of 10 people interviewed for the post. 

Kumble has no previous coaching experience at first-class or international level and is not understood to have obtained his coaching certifications. He has played a mentor role with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in the IPL, and was also chairman of India's National Cricket Academy and the BCCI's Technical Committee.

He is the current chairman of the International Cricket Council's influential Cricket Committee, which Australia coach Darren Lehmann also sits on. Just last month, Kumble has his tenure as chairman renewed until 2018.

Kumble is India's leading wicket-taker in Test and ODI cricket. He played 132 Tests for India and took 619 wickets, including a career-best of 10-74 - just the second man to ever take all 10 wickets in an innings - and scored one century, an unbeaten 110. He also played 271 one-day internationals, claiming 337 scalps.

The announcement comes ahead of India's mammoth 13-Test home season that includes a mouth-watering match-up with Steve Smith's Australians.

Australia will not have to revisit any of the four Test venues from the forgettable 2013 'homeworkgate' tour when they travel to India to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy next year.

Instead, Australia will break new ground with a four-Test series next February to be played at Bangalore, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Pune.

Image Id: ~/media/916785B7D3574808BB642914D3FE66CC Image Caption: Australia played a World T20 match in Dharamasala // Getty

Three of the venues have never hosted Test cricket before, but touring Australian fans will be in for a treat with one of the matches scheduled for the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala at the foot of the Himalayas.

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.

Image Id: ~/media/D35A440ACF914EF78A990A93C6731DBF Image Caption: Tendulkar celebrates India's 2-0 Test win in 2010 // Getty

The BCCI is yet to confirm dates and the order of the Test matches.

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.

In an eventful series, Steve Smith became Australia's 45 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 little has changed in the intervening years.

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 spinner Nathan Lyon recently told cricket.com.au the surface is "pretty impressive" after several sessions with fellow finger spinner Stephen O'Keefe and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill.

"It's quite close to a splash of Mohali and Chennai, I know they've tried to replicate Chennai but it's a good wicket and here in Australia it's probably as close as we're going to get to a subcontinent wicket," Lyon said.

"I know Steve O'Keefe and I really enjoyed bowling on it and Pete Nevill had a good hit, and was keeping to us on it as well. So it's ticked a box so far."

Australia's visit is part of a mammoth 13-Test 2016-17 home season for Indian cricket with visits from New Zealand and England before Australia arrive, and a one-off Test against Bangladesh to follow.

New Zealand will play three Test matches - including a possible first day-night match in India - and five one-day internationals, before Alastair Cook and the Barmy Army arrive en masse for a five-Test series as well as three ODIs and three T20s.

India will also take Test cricket to Rajkot, Vizag, and Indore for the first time while the the Black Caps are to play Tests at Indore, Knapur and Kolkata.

India's domestic first-class tournament, the Duleep Trophy, is also to be played with a pink ball and under lights for the first time this season in preparation for a possible day-night Test.