Pune, Ranchi and Dharamshala to debut as Test venues during India-Australia series in 2017

The full schedule for the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be played between India and Australia in the former's homeland during the early part of the year was released on Friday.

The series will begin in the western part of India with Pune hosting the first Test of the series to be held between the 23rd and the 27th of February. The Gahunje Stadium, which played host to the Ranji Trophy final earlier this year between Mumbai and Saurashtra, will be hosting an international Test match for the first time.

A T20I involving India and Sri Lanka was played at the venue earlier this year.

Then the teams will move to the south-west of the country, to Bengaluru, where the second match of the series will be played between the 4th and the 8th of March. The Chinnaswamy Stadium has played host to a Border-Gavaskar Trophy game thrice – in 1998, 2004 and 2010. India won just one of those matches- the last of them- when a double hundred from Sachin Tendulkar led the team to a series-clinching victory.

The third Test will see both teams travel to the east of India, to Ranchi, which like Pune, will also be playing host to a Test for the first time – between the 16th and the 20th of March. The JSCA International Stadium has seen limited-overs action in the past and will, in fact, be the host for the fourth India- New Zealand ODI on the 26th of October.

The final touchdown for both teams in the series will be in the north, and yet another venue will make its debut as a Test centre. The picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala will host the final Test of the series between the 25th and the 29th of March.

The venue, like Pune and Ranchi that will make their debut, has also played host to some limited-overs matches in the past and now has a chance to stage a Test match.

The series will be the culmination of a long home season for India, which would have seen them play as many as 13 Tests against New Zealand, England and Australia.

Full schedule:

No.	Match	Date	Venue
1.	India vs Australia-First Test	23rd-27th February	Gahunje Stadium, Pune
2.	India vs Australia-Second Test	4th-8th March	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
3.	India vs Australia-Third Test	16th-20th March	JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi
4.	India vs Australia-Fourth Test	25th-29th March	HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala