India to play Tests, Triangular ODI series in Australia before World Cup 2015

MS Dhoni

Ahead of the ICC World Cup 2015, Indian cricket team has been scheduled to play a 4-match Test series with the hosts followed by a tri-nation One Day International tournament, involving England. The defending champions will be looking forward to make full use of this opportunity to get used to the conditions before the all-important World Cup kicks off on February 14.

Confirming their schedule, Cricket Australia released a statement saying that India will play the first Test match at Brisbane on December 4, which marks the Indian side’s return to the venue after a gap of 12 years.

"The fans in Brisbane will see the India Test team for the first time since 2003-04," Cricket Australia said in a statement.

India will also be seen in action at Adelaide (December 12 to 16), Melbourne (December 26 to 30) and Sydney (January 3 to 7) in whites before switching to their colored outfits for the tri-series that begins on January 16. With England joining in, each team will face the other twice, before the top 2 teams advance to the final to be played on February 1 at Perth.

On Australia’s high profile international schedule that gets rolling on November 5, against South Africa, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said: "The next 12 months will have something for everyone. It contains some refinements from last season that benefits both players and fans. Never before have we had so much high quality cricket to offer around Australia, whether it's international or domestic, men's or women's, or played with a red or white ball.

"The 2014-15 schedule looks very different to previous summers due in large part to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 that we are co-hosting with New Zealand for the first time in 23 years.With a Test series against India, ODIs against the top teams in world cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup and another strong domestic calendar, this year promises to be even bigger," Sutherland added.

Schedule:

Warm up matches:

Nov 24-25: 1st warm up game – Cricket Australia Invitational XI v Indians, Adelaide

Nov 28-29: 2nd warm up game – Cricket Australia Invitational XI v Indians, Adelaide

Test series:

Dec 4-8: 1st Test – Australia v India - Brisbane

Dec 12-16: 2nd Test – Australia v India - Adelaide

Dec 26-30: 3rd Test – Australia v India - Melbourne

Jan 3-7: 4th Test – Australia v India - Sydney

Triangular ODI-series:

Jan 16: Australia v India - Melbourne

Jan 18: Australia v England - Sydney

Jan 20: England v India - Brisbane

Jan 23: Australia v England - Hobart

Jan 26: Australia v India - Sydney

Jan 30: England v India - Perth

Feb 1: Final - Perth.

All matches of the triangular ODI series are day-night fixtures.