Australia v India Test series: TV channels, schedule, teams news - All you need to know

The Cricketer provides the who, what, where, when, why, and which channel as Australia and India return to Test action

What is it?

Following the ODI and T20 series’ – Australia and India take on one another in a four-match Test series.

What’s the schedule?

FIRST TEST: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Thursday, December 17, 3:00pm local time, 4:00am GMT)

SECOND TEST: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne (Saturday, December 26 10:30am local time, 11:30pm GMT – Friday, December 25)

THIRD TEST: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney (Thursday, January 7 10:30am local time, 11:30pm GMT – Wednesday, January 6)

FOURTH TEST: The Gabba, Brisbane (Friday, January 15, 10:00am local time, 00:00am GMT)

India tour of Australia: Fixtures

What are Australia's chances?

Australia haven’t played Test cricket since the start of January where they played New Zealand in a three-match series. They won that series handsomely – with winning margins of 296 runs, 247 runs and 279 respectively.

They have been hit by injury for the first Test as David Warner has been ruled out with an injured groin. However, they have Will Pucovski and Joe Burns waiting to do battle. Pucovski had a solid start to the Sheffield Shield campaign, scoring two double centuries for Victoria. Although, he was struck on the head during a tour match.

Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh were all left out of the squad; meanwhile, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green and Mitchell Swepson were all included after solid starts to the first-class season – whether or not they will play a part in this series remains to be seen.

With star names including Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Tim Paine all included – we should expect fireworks as selectors mix big names with fresh faces.

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

_{David Warner will miss the opening Test}

India tour of Australia: India squads

What about India?

India haven’t played Test cricket since March. The series defeat against New Zealand was their first of the World Test Championship, but a win in this series would put them in good stead for qualifying for next year’s final.

India will be without Virat Kohli for the final three Tests as he will return home for a period of paternity leave.

Australia will have their work cut out, even with Kohli absent. With Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant all in the squad, they will be looking to playing starring roles.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja will all prove dangerous with the ball no doubt and cause the Australian batsmen all sorts of problems.

India squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

Virat Kohli will only play the opening Test

How can I follow it?

In the UK, BT Sport 1 and 2 will show the entire series with their coverage getting underway late at night or in the early hours.

Viewers in India can access pictures via the Sony Ten 1, while Sony Ten 3 will have commentary in Hindi. Tamil and Telugu commentary can be accessed via Sony Six.

Other fans across the sub-continent will need to subscribe to the SongLIV streaming service to watch the series.

Fox Sports and Channel 7 have the rights to the matches in Australia while they can also be streamed live via Kayo.

The Supersport network will show Australia v India in South Africa, while those interested in the United States will have to tune into Willow TV.

In New Zealand, Sky Sport 2 are showing all four Tests.

BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra will have live radio commentary of all four games in the UK.