All you need to know for the Border-Gavaskar day-night Test

Match details

Who: Australia v India

What: Second NRMA Insurance Test Match

When: 6-10 December, 2024, first ball at 2:30pm local time (3:00pm AEDT, 9:30am IST)

Where: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, South Australia

How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports, Channel 7 and 7Plus

Live scores: Match Centre

Officials: Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffaney (field), Richard Kettleborough (third), Phil Gillespie (fourth), Ranjan Madugalle (referee)

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app and the Unplayable Podcast. Listen and subscribe to the podcast below.

The Squads

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

 

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal

Well, we're only one match into the blockbuster series but there's already been changes to the squads and guaranteed changes for both sides as we head into game two. 

Australia's best bowler from Perth, Josh Hazlewood, has been ruled out of the Adelaide Test with a side strain, opening the door for Scott Boland to replace him. Also into the squad as "cover", are Beau Webster, Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett with allrounder Mitch Marsh a potential chance to miss the second Test after pulling up "sore" from Perth. 

India's captain Rohit Sharma missed the first Test as he was at home in Mumbai for the birth of his second child, but is back in Australia and will return to the Indian XI. Shubman Gill appears over his thumb concern too, giving the tourists two very handy potential inclusions in the batting department. 

Local knowledge

Adelaide has been a successful venue for the home side, with only one loss in South Australia in the past decade. That one loss however, was to India in the opening Test of the 2018-19 series.

It wasn't however, a pink-ball match, which was the case in 2020-21 when India were bundled out for 36. Australia are on a five-Test winning streak in Adelaide but have never gone six on the trot at the venue. 

Virat Kohli has an unbelievable record at Adelaide Oval, dating back to his maiden Test century which was at the venue in early 2012. Across all formats, only Michael Clarke (8), Ricky Ponting (7) and David Warner (7) have more international centuries at Adelaide Oval than Kohli (5).  

Session Times

First Session: 2:30pm – 4:30pm (3:00pm-5:00pm AEDT; 9:30am-11:30am IST)
Tea: 4:30pm – 5:10pm (5:00pm-5:40pm AEDT; 11:30am-12:10pm IST)

 

Second Session: 5:10pm – 7:10pm (5:40pm-7:40pm AEDT; 12:10pm-2:10pm IST)
Dinner: 7:10pm – 7:30pm (7:40pm-8pm AEDT; 2:10pm-2:30pm IST)

 

Third Session: 7:30pm – 9:30pm (8pm-10pm AEDT; 2:30pm-4:30pm IST)
* An extra 30 minutes can be used to complete daily overs

The full series schedule

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

nbn Fast Facts

Great things happen fast on nbn – cricket.com.au has compiled the following facts to prepare you for the game, fast. Do great things with nbn.

• India will be looking to win their first two games of a men’s Test series in Australia for the first time after winning by 295 runs in the first match of this series

• Australia have won eight of their 13 men’s Tests against India at Adelaide Oval; this will be their first meeting there since December 2020 which was the only previous day/night clash between these teams

• India have won three of their four day-night men’s Tests, with their only loss in that period coming against Australia at Adelaide Oval in December 2020, while Australia lost their last day-night men’s Test by eight runs to the West Indies in January 2024 after winning all their 11 previous day-night matches

• Australia have a catch success rate of 84 per cent from their 105 attempts in men’s Tests in 2024, the highest of any team to have played more than a single Test this year, and have dropped only six of their 52 attempts across their last three Tests

• Nathan Lyon (Australia) has taken 63 Test wickets at Adelaide Oval, the most of any player in the men’s format and his most at any venue; it’s the fifth most of any Australia player at a single venue in the format and he needs just six more to reach second on that list (1st – Dennis Lillee, 82 at the MCG; 2nd – Shane Warne, 68 at the Gabba).

• Jasprit Bumrah (India) has taken 17 wickets across his past three Test matches against Australia, and 40 wickets in eight matches against them overall; his bowling average of 18.8 against them is the best of any India bowler (min. 5 innings)

• Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) has scored 10+ runs in only one of his past nine Test innings and has been dismissed in single figures seven times in 2024

• Travis Head (Australia) made a good connection on 71.1% of his 114 balls faced in the first match of this men’s Test series between Australia and India, the highest of any batter and just the second time in his last 14 Test matches that he’s had a rate of 70% or higher

Pink-ball prowess? 

As mentioned above in the nbn Fast Facts, Australia have a sensational record in day-night Tests, with 11 wins in 12 matches. 

In Adelaide, that record gets even better, with a perfect seven wins from seven day-night Tests at the venue. 

While Australia have played at least one pink-ball match each season for the past decade, India have played only four. They won all three of the day-night Tests held in India, while they lost their only day-nighter on foreign soil; that loss to Australia in 2020. 

India's day-night Tests:

 

November 2019: Defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs, Eden Gardens 

 

December 2020: Lost to Australia by eight wickets, Adelaide

 

February 2021: Defeated England by 10 wickets, Ahmedabad

 

March 2022: Defeated Sri Lanka by 238 runs, Bengaluru 

Head-to-Head

Overall: Australia 45 wins, India 33 wins, 29 draws, one tie

In Australia: Australia 30 wins, India 10 wins, 13 draws

Past 10 years: Australia seven wins (5H, 2A) India nine wins (4H, 5A), six draws (4 in Aus, 2 in India)

Most runs (overall): Sachin Tendulkar (3630), Ricky Ponting (2555), VVS Laxman (2434), Virat Kohli (2147), Rahul Dravid (2143)

Most runs (in Australia): Ricky Ponting (1893), Sachin Tendulkar (1809), Virat Kohli (1457), VVS Laxman (1236), Rahul Dravid (1143)

Most wickets (overall): Nathan Lyon (123), Ravichandran Ashwin (114), Anil Kumble (111), Harbhajan Singh (95), Ravindra Jadeja (89)

Most wickets (in Australia): Nathan Lyon (62), Kapil Dev (51), Anil Kumble (49), Josh Hazlewood (47), Brett Lee (45)

Possible line-ups

Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

The first change for Australia that seems pretty cut and dry is Scott Boland coming in for the injured Josh Hazlewood. Boland was carrying the drinks in Perth and it seems unlikely that either Sean Abbott or Brendan Doggett, despite their elevations into the squad, will leapfrog Boland. 

Beau Webster is another player who has been brought into the squad off the back of some outstanding domestic form. In the event that Mitch Marsh is unable to bowl sufficiently in Adelaide, Webster may replace him as the side's pace-bowling allrounder. 

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill return and seem like easy inclusions with Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel dropping out. 

India's bowling attack was pretty much perfect in Perth, so it would seem unlikely that would change unless due to injuries. Washington Sundar was picked as the spinner ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and put in a solid performance. Jadeja had a decent bat and bowl in the weekend's match against the Prime Minister's XI, as did Sundar, but Ashwin didn't feature. 

Can I still get tickets?

Yes is the answer, but tickets are selling fast! You might have a tough time finding a spot on the hill now though...

We’re set for bumper crowds across the entire series. It’s set to be a sold out Boxing Day at the MCG, with more than 12 per cent of all ticket sales coming from overseas, while sales are closing in on a sold out SCG across the first three days.

Check availability and get your tickets for the series here

Broadcast info

Australian audiences will once again be able to watch every ball of this summer’s Test series either free-to-air on Channel Seven and its digital streaming platform 7plus, or ad-break free during play and in 4K on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

Here’s the commentators you can expect to hear across the different broadcasters during the Test series:

Seven & 7plus: Greg Blewett, James Brayshaw, Trent Copeland, Aaron Finch (first two Tests only), Damien Fleming, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden (first three Tests only), Simon Katich, Rachel Khawaja, Tim Lane, Justin Langer, Mel McLaughlin, Alison Mitchell, Alister Nicholson, Ricky Ponting and Simon Taufel.

Foxtel & Kayo: Harsha Bhogle, Allan Border, Adam Gilchrist, Isa Guha, Mark Howard, Mike Hussey, Brendon Julian, Brett Lee, Kath Loughnan, Kerry O'Keefe, Ravi Shastri, Michael Vaughan, David Warner, Mark Waugh

Kayo Sports and 7plus will both feature options to listen to Hindi commentary for this summer’s Tests. Foxtel has introduced new technological innovations such as interactive 4D replays, a 600 frame-per-second ultra-slow-motion camera dubbed 'the emperor', and using AI to enhance ball-tracking data.

If you’re not already on board with Kayo Sports, sign up here

If radio is more your thing, then the ABC, Triple M and SEN will all be broadcasting the Test matches this summer, all of which can be listened to through the CA Live app. The BBC and SEN NZ will also be carrying audio for listeners in those countries.

World Test Championship update

Five nations, including Australia and India, are still genuinely in the running to make the third edition of the World Test Championship decider, to be played at Lord's next June. 

South Africa have moved into pole position to make the final, with India firming somewhat too. Australia need to bank a few wins now with only six matches remaining in the cycle. Sri Lanka and New Zealand can't be discounted either, just yet. England and Pakistan are only very slim chances to make it. Read up on all the permutations below. 

Form Guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw   

Australia: LWWLWWWWLD

The Perth Test was Australia's first in the format for almost nine months and a bit of rustiness became evident as the match progressed. The hosts will be hoping their good record in Adelaide carries them to a positive result. 

India: WLLLWWWWWW

India started the series perfectly with a comfortable win inside four days in Perth. All the more impressive considering they were coming off a 3-0 series loss to New Zealand at home, but that result is now firmly in the rearview mirror.