2014-15 Indian Cricket Team's Tour of Australia

 

Defending champions India will get an early feel of the Australian conditions ahead of 2015 ODI World Cup after agreeing to play a Test series against the hosts and a triangular one-day series, also featuring England, between December 4 and February01,2015



The fixtures include 4 Test matches between India and Australia starting December 04,2014 in Brisbane. The series' other games will be played in Adelaide (December 12 to 16), Melbourne (December 26 to 30) and Sydney (January 3 to 7,2015)

Test series:
December 4-8: 1st Test Australia v India - Brisbane
December 12-16: 2nd Test Australia v India - Adelaide
December 26-30: 3rd Test Australia v India - Melbourne
January 3-7: 4th Test Australia v India - Sydney


The ODI tri-series will start on January 16,2015 the finale of which will take place on February01,2015 in Perth

ODI tri-series:
January 16: Australia v India - Melbourne
January 18: Australia v England - Sydney
January 20: England v India - Brisbane
January 23: Australia v England - Hobart
January 26: Australia v India - Sydney
January 30: England v India - Perth
February 1: Final - Perth.

8 specialist batsmen, 5 fast bowlers, 3 spinners and 3 wicket-keepers - a 19-man squadwas announced for the coming Australia tour on Monday Nov 10,2014 by the five-man selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil.

India captain MS Dhoni will miss the first Test on the tour of Australia due to injury while Karnataka's in-form young opener KL Rahul, talented Railways legspinner Karn Sharma and Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha have made it to India's 19-member Test squad for the four-Test tour.
M S Dhoni will join the team from the second Test onwards and will lead the team in the last three Tests
Indian Cricket Team Test Match Squad for the Australian Tour
MS Dhoni (C), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron

History of India's tour of Australia

India's first ever Test tour to Australia happened in 1947-48. Lala Amarnath led the Indian team that lost the five-Test series 4-0. 

Tiger Pataudi-led Indian team toured Australia in 1967-68. Pataudi (339) was the second-highest run-getter in the series. However, India suffered a humiliating 4-0 whitewash at the hands of the hosts.

Bishen Singh Bedi captained India to their first ever Test win on Australian soil in 1977-78. After losing the first two Tests of the five-match series, India went on to win the third and fourth match thanks to the incredible left-arm spin bowling by skipper Bedi and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, who bagged 31 and 28 wickets, respectively, in the series. But India lost the final game to concede the series 2-3. 

India played three Tests in Australia under Sunil Gavaskar during the tour in 1980-81. After losing the first match, India held the visitors to a draw in the second and then levelled the series by winning the third. Gundappa Viswanath was adjudged 'Man of the Match' for his magnificent 114 off 222. The series ended in a 1-1 draw.

The 1985-86 tour saw all three matches of the series being drawn. For his all-round show, captain Kapil Dev was adjudged 'Man of the Series'. 

Sachin Tenudulkar scored his first Test century on the Australian soil on the 1991-92 tour. India lost the five-match series 4-0.

Sachin Tendulkar captained India on the 1999-2000 tour, where VVS Laxman scored his first Test century in Australia. But the Aussies won the series 3-0

Chance of winning a Test series in Australia slipped from India's hand on the tour of 2003-04. After playing a draw in the opening Test, the Sourav Ganguly-led India won the second match thanks to Rahul Dravid, who followed his magnificent 233 in the first innings by an unbeaten 72 in the second. But India went on to lose the third Test while the fourth ended in a draw. The four-match series was tied 1-1. With 619 runs in the series at an average of 123.80, Dravid was adjudged 'Man of the Series.'

Anil Kumble captained India in the 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia which was marred with the 'Monkeygate' episode. With the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman in the team, India went on tour wit high hopes, but the visitors started the campaign on a terrible note losing the first two Tests. And though Kumble & Co won the third Test, India couldn't go for a win in the last match of the Test. India lost the four-match series 2-1.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni skippered the Indian team on the 2011-12 tour. India went in with a combination of young and experienced players on the tour but they failed to lived up to the expectations suffering a humiliating 4-0 series