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The Border-Gavaskar Trophy returns to India for five Tests from 21 January to 3 March 2027. The series moves from Nagpur to Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and finally Ahmedabad's 132,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium. It is the biggest Test series of the Indian season and one of the most prized in world cricket.
Australia hold the trophy after winning 3-1 at home in 2024-25. They have not won a Test series in India since 2004-05, so this tour is a chance to end a wait of more than two decades. With World Test Championship points at stake and Australia top of the table, every session matters. For travelling fans, it is six weeks of Test cricket across five very different parts of India, in the best weather of the year.
The series is organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), hosting Cricket Australia (CA). It closes India's 2026-27 home season, which also includes white-ball series against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. All five matches are scheduled over five days, and all count towards the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship, whose final is at The Oval in June 2027.
Play starts at 9:30 AM local time (04:00 GMT) in Nagpur, Chennai, Ranchi and Ahmedabad. In Guwahati it starts at 9:00 AM (03:30 GMT), because daylight in the north-east ends earlier. Australia hold the trophy, so India must win the series to take it back. A drawn series leaves it with Australia.
The trophy was introduced in 1996-97 and is named after two of the game's great batters and captains, Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar. Since then it has become one of cricket's fiercest rivalries. It has produced Kolkata in 2001, when VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted India to victory after following on, and India's back-to-back series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
In India, the home side has dominated. Australia's last series win here came under Adam Gilchrist in 2004-05. On their last visit, in 2023, India won the series 2-1, beginning with a win by an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur and ending with a draw in Ahmedabad. Australia then won the 2024-25 series 3-1 at home to reclaim the trophy, and they arrive with India having lost five of their nine home Tests since the start of that season.
India is the spiritual home of modern cricket, and a Test against Australia brings out its most passionate crowds. January to early March is the most comfortable time to visit. Central and northern India are dry with cool mornings, the south is warm and sunny, and the north-east is mild.
This series reaches parts of India that many cricket tours never visit. It runs from the tiger reserves around Nagpur and the temple culture of Tamil Nadu to the tea gardens and Brahmaputra river of Assam, the waterfalls of Jharkhand and the heritage of Gujarat. Indian pitches typically take spin as the match goes on, so the cricket asks very different questions of Australia than it does at home.
The series opens at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur from Thursday 21 to Monday 25 January 2027. The second Test follows at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium from Friday 29 January to Tuesday 2 February. A break of more than a week then leads into the third Test at Guwahati's Barsapara Cricket Stadium, from Thursday 11 to Monday 15 February.
The fourth Test is at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi from Friday 19 to Tuesday 23 February. The series ends at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, from Saturday 27 February to Wednesday 3 March. Australia go straight on to the 150th anniversary Test against England at the MCG from 11 March.
The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Jamtha, on the edge of Nagpur, holds about 45,000. It has hosted Test cricket since 2008, when its first Test was played against Australia. It is also where India crushed Australia in the 2023 series opener. Nagpur, known as the Orange City, sits close to the geographical centre of India, and the Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve is within a few hours' drive.
Known everywhere as Chepauk, this 38,200-seat ground has hosted Tests since 1934 and is famous for its knowledgeable, sporting crowds. It holds a unique place in this rivalry: India and Australia played the second tied Test in history here in 1986. The ground sits about two kilometres from Marina Beach. Chennai offers temple towns, the shore temples of Mamallapuram and some of the best South Indian food in the country.
Also known as the ACA Stadium, Guwahati's 46,000-capacity ground has hosted just one previous Test. This will be Australia's first Test there, which makes it a genuine first for the series. Guwahati sits on the Brahmaputra and is the gateway to India's north-east. The Kamakhya Temple is in the city, and Kaziranga National Park, famous for its one-horned rhinos, is within a day trip.
Ranchi's modern stadium, one of the larger venues in the country, last hosted Australia in a Test in 2017, which ended in a draw. The city is MS Dhoni's hometown, and locals turn out in big numbers for international cricket. The hills around Ranchi hold waterfalls such as Hundru and Dassam, a welcome change of scene in the middle of a long tour.
The world's largest cricket stadium, with 132,000 seats, stages the final Test. Australian fans have warm memories of it: Australia beat India here in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, and the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Test here ended in a draw. Beyond the ground, Ahmedabad's old walled city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Sabarmati Ashram and the riverfront are both worth an evening.
India are captained in Tests by Shubman Gill. They come into the series fifth in the World Test Championship table and needing a big result to reach the final. Home conditions have long been India's strength, and their spinners and batting depth make them formidable over five Tests. Their recent home form, though, shows that the old certainties no longer hold. Squads will be named closer to the series.
Australia, led by Pat Cummins and coached by Andrew McDonald, top the World Test Championship standings and hold the trophy. Winning a series in India is the one achievement this group has not managed. As in 2023, they plan to skip a tour match and prepare at a training camp instead. The tour starts less than a fortnight after their home Test against New Zealand in Sydney.
This is Test cricket's biggest rivalry of recent years, played over five matches in India. Australia are chasing a first series win here since 2004-05, India want their trophy back, and both sides have World Test Championship places on the line. Watching Australian batters face Indian spin on a turning fifth-day pitch is one of the great tests in the sport.
The setting adds to it. You can see a historic Test at Chepauk, a first-ever Australia Test in Guwahati and a finale in the world's biggest stadium. The breaks between matches leave room for tigers, rhinos, temples and beaches, so you can follow the whole series or plan a holiday around one or two Tests.
The travel window runs from mid-January to early March 2027. All five host cities have airports with domestic connections. Chennai and Ahmedabad also have direct international links, and Nagpur, Guwahati and Ranchi are a short connecting flight from Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata. A common plan is to take two Tests, such as Nagpur and Chennai or Ranchi and Ahmedabad, and add a few days of travel in between.
Most visitors, including Australians, need a visa, and many nationalities can apply online for an Indian e-Visa before travel. The currency is the Indian rupee. Days are warm and sunny at most venues, so pack sun protection and a hat for long sessions in the stands, and a light layer for cool mornings in Nagpur and Guwahati.
CrickBuster packages handle the planning for you. Depending on the package, they include guaranteed official match tickets in general or hospitality seating, flights, accommodation, airport and stadium transfers, and excursions and sightseeing, from a Tadoba safari and Mamallapuram to Kaziranga and the Ahmedabad heritage walk. Meet-and-greet and fan experiences are added where available.
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