India vs Australia 2016-17 Full Schedule: All Matches Date and Time Table with Ground Details

India's marathon home season comes to an end, as they get set to host visitors Australia in a four-Test series from February 23. India have had a fruitful Test season so far, following consecutive series wins against New Zealand and England, while they still await the result of the sole test match they would play against Bangladesh from February 9. Nevertheless, India are again expected to put up a commendable performance. As for Australia, they too are coming off an impressive win vvs Pakistan in the just concluded Test series, as they look to carry the same winning momentum in this tour. However, judging by their previous performance back in India, in the recent past, they have an uphill task at hand.

The tour begins with the opening Test, to be held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune from February 23-24, followed by the second Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from March 4-8. The third Test will be played at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) International Stadium Complex in Ranchi from March 16-20, while the fourth and final Test will conclude at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala from March 25-29.

The Indian squad for the series is yet to be announced. However, few of the names are certain, who could feature in the Indian side, being currently led by Virat Kohli. Players in the form of Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Chteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhimabn Saha, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and many more are certain to feature in the side. And with a start studded Indian side, Australia would certainly face an uphill task to get past the Indians.

However, as for the Australians themselves, Cricket Australia (CA) has announced that squad, which is to be led by regular skipper Steven Smith, who would surely be facing his toughest test till date. Players in the form of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc feature in the side; while the other players to posses great cricketing abilities to put up an impressive show in India. However, how would they tackle the deadly spin from the Indian spinners would be interesting to watch out for, and is positively a 'million dollar question'.

Nevertheless, Australian legend Allan Border has raised doubts if the Australian spinners would be equally successful in the sub-continent. “I personally would have taken a gamble on another paceman, probably Pat Cummins. I think he’s ready to go. I’m not sure why they’re holding him back so much. I would have been very tempted to have that firepower bowling option. If you use Pat Cummins properly, he’s only probably got to bowl 16 overs in a day. You just do it in four short bursts and you just let him rip,” said Border.

Meanwhile, Steve O'Keefe has said that the Indians are not infallible, and the Australians can certainly beat them. “Look, it is a daunting task but in saying that there are cracks in their walls, they are not infallible and if you are playing on wickets which are spinning and straightening, you try to beat both sides of the bat and stay positive. You can get wickets by using the same sort of recipe, by attacking the stumps, changing the pace, trying to hit the top of off-stump. Even the best players of the world may find it difficult on wickets that are playing a few tricks,” he said.

The heat has definitely started to build up for the tour, and would definitely be one of the most interesting Test series ever to be watched out for. Two best teams in Test cricket collide, but only one will reign supreme. Who is that team going to be?

India vs Australia 2016-17 Features

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Virat Kohli and his men have come to be accepted as trendsetters, feels VVS Laxman.
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Devarchit VarmaMarch 28, 2017 4:44 PM IST
For a team that had lost all of its last 9 Tests in the Indian subcontinent, Australia probably did better than what was expected.
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Abhishek KumarMarch 28, 2017 3:20 PM IST
Statistical highlights for India vs Australia, 4th Test at Dharamsala.
India vs Australia 2016-17: Marks out of 10 for India
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Let us take a look at the highlights of the action-packed final day of the 2016-17 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy:

‘Hurt, shocked’ Glenn Maxwell responds to Al Jazeera fixing claims
CricketCountry StaffJuly 24, 2018 12:27 PM IST
The Australian allrounder says that allegations of him engaging in illegal activity during last year’s drawn Test match in Ranchi were certainly very hard to
2 Australian cricketers involved in fixing during India-Australia Ranchi Test 2017, claims match-fixer
CricketCountry StaffMay 27, 2018 4:34 PM IST
With the series levelled at 1-1, India and Australia fought out a draw at Ranchi.
Smith terms Kohli's DRS claims during Bengaluru Test as 'rubbish'
Ayush GuptaOctober 26, 2017 10:46 PM IST
There was quite a controversy between Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Australian skipper Steven Smith during the initial part of the year.

VVS Laxman: Virat Kohli’s victorious India an inspiration for kids

India vs Australia 2016-17: Marks out of 10 for Australia

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India vs Australia 2016-17: Marks out of 10 for India

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