Australia’s long wait in India and the 2027 tour worth travelling for

When Australia last won a Test series in India, Adam Gilchrist was captaining in place of an injured Ricky Ponting, a young Michael Clarke was announcing himself with 151 on debut in Bangalore, and the result was hailed as the fall of Australian cricket’s “final frontier”. That was late 2004. By the time the two sides walk out in Nagpur on 21 January 2027, the wait for another Australian Test series win on Indian soil will have stretched to about 22 years.

For cricket-loving Australians, and for the many Indian-Australians who still have family across India, that number is the hook. The 2027 Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a five-Test tour that runs for six weeks through the Indian winter and into early spring, and it doubles neatly as a reason to plan a long trip home.

What is confirmed, and what could still move

The Board of Control for Cricket in India released the fixtures on 26 March 2026 as part of its 2026-27 home international season. The tour is five Tests and nothing else, with no one-day or Twenty20 leg attached to this window, and it forms part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. The details below were current when checked on 17 August 2026. Cricket schedules do shift, so treat everything as firm rather than final until the associations confirm again closer to the summer.

The series opens with the first Test in Nagpur from 21 to 25 January 2027, followed by the second Test in Chennai from 29 January to 2 February. After a longer break the third Test runs in Guwahati from 11 to 15 February, the fourth in Ranchi from 19 to 23 February, and the fifth and final Test in Ahmedabad from 27 February to 3 March. Cricket Australia, ESPNcricinfo, India.com.au and several cricket outlets list the same dates and cities, all tracing back to the BCCI announcement.

Five cities strung right across the country

Part of what makes this tour appealing for a travelling fan is how far the fixtures spread. Nagpur sits almost at the geographic centre of India, Chennai is on the southern coast, Guwahati is up in the north-east on the Brahmaputra, Ranchi is in the eastern state of Jharkhand, and Ahmedabad is over in the west in Gujarat. Following the whole series means criss-crossing the subcontinent, which is either a logistical headache or the trip of a lifetime depending on how you look at it.

The scheduling helps. The gaps between Tests are mostly short, three or four days, but the stretch between the Chennai Test and the Guwahati Test is close to a week. That is the natural window for anyone wanting to break away from the cricket, whether that means heading into Assam and the north-east or flying back to see relatives before the second half of the series.

The timing sits in India’s cooler, drier months, which is generally the most comfortable stretch of the year to travel across much of the country. Republic Day, India’s national holiday on 26 January, falls neatly between the first and second Tests, so fans on the ground early could take in the flags, parades and public festivities before the Chennai match begins.

The grounds, and why each is worth the detour

Each venue carries its own character. Nagpur’s Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium hosted the opening Test of the 2023 series, where India won by an innings and 132 runs, and it was also a venue in that 2004 tour when Australia last prevailed. Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, known to everyone as Chepauk, is one of India’s oldest and most atmospheric Test grounds and the long-time home of Tamil Nadu cricket.

Guwahati is the newcomer and, for a keen fan, the pick of the itinerary. The Barsapara Stadium became India’s 30th men’s Test venue only in November 2025, when it hosted India against South Africa, so the 2027 fixture will be among its very first Tests and its first Border-Gavaskar contest. Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium Complex is the home city of MS Dhoni and staged its debut Test in March 2017, against Australia as it happens. The series then finishes at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the former Motera ground, which holds 132,000 people and is the largest cricket stadium in the world.

A series with a genuine storyline

The cricket reason to go is strong too. Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on home soil with a 3-1 win in the 2024-25 series, so they arrive holding the trophy but still chasing that first away series win in India since 2004. India, for their part, are in transition. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both stepped away from Test cricket in 2025, and Shubman Gill was appointed India’s Test captain that May before also taking the one-day captaincy in October. A relatively new-look Indian side defending a two-decade home record against a battle-hardened Australian one is the kind of contest that sells a tour.

There is a preview act as well. Australia A are set to tour India in September and October 2026, based in Puducherry, with two four-day matches and three 50-over games. Those fixtures are where the fringe players pressing for a senior berth will state their case, and they are worth watching for anyone trying to guess the touring party. Reporting suggests the senior side may again go without a traditional first-class warm-up, as they did before the 2023 series, though that plan is not locked in.

Planning the trip

A few practical notes for anyone tempted. Match tickets for Indian home Tests are usually sold online through the host state associations and their ticketing partners, and they tend to go on sale closer to the fixtures rather than months ahead, so it pays to watch the official channels rather than commit to travel dates on the assumption a seat is guaranteed. Avoid any operator quoting firm package prices this far out, since the schedule itself is still subject to change.

For those staying in Australia, the series is set to be shown on Fox Cricket and streamed on Kayo, which covers the early starts that come with Indian time zones. And if you are extending a trip after the final Test in Ahmedabad, note that Holi, the festival of colour, falls in late March in 2027, a few weeks after the cricket wraps up.

The wait since 2004 is the frame for this series, but the real draw for the diaspora is simpler. It is six weeks of Test cricket in the middle of the Indian winter, spread across five cities that many Australians already have reason to visit. Whether Australia finally ends the drought or India protects its fortress, being in the stands for it is the sort of thing you plan a year out. This is that year.

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